According to new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, “low levels of HDL cholesterol were associated with higher risk of heart attack among White adults, but the same was not true among Black adults. Also, higher levels of HDL cholesterol were not found to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease for either group”.

Nathalie Pamir, a senior author of the study and an associate professor of medicine at the Knight Cardiovascular Institute at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, wrote a news release “It’s been well accepted that low HDL cholesterol levels are detrimental, regardless of race. Our research tested those assumptions. It could mean that in the future, we don’t get a pat on the back by our doctors for having higher HDL cholesterol levels.”

A previous study from the 1970 involving only the white Americans had found that “high levels of HDL cholesterol concentration were associated with low coronary heart disease risk, a link that has since been widely accepted and used in heart disease risk assessments,” CNN writes reporting about the study.

CNN medical correspondence and an associate director of the Lenox Hill Women’s Heart Program , Dr. Tara Naraula says “ the study highlights the very important need for more race- and ethnic-specific research and that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Additionally, this research emphasizes the continued need to educate that high levels of HDL are not a free pass and focus must be placed on controlling elevated LDL and other known markers of increased cardiovascular risk.”