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Boston Heart HDL MapTM
 Take a look at the brochure!
Leading scientists have developed and used Boston Heart Lab’s unique HDL fingerprinting method for several years. Although the method is quite labor intensive, we decided to offer it to the public because of the valuable information it provides HDL is made up of five different kinds of particles, not all beneficial. Each particle varies in its ability to remove cholesterol from a cell (some can reduce the size of a plaque, the narrowing of the vessel that causes heart disease) and deliver it to the liver. Different drugs affect these particles differently. Some drugs lead to more of the good HDL particles being made. The HDL FingerprintTM will tell you what kind of particles you have. The test can also identify specific disorders of abnormalities in how fat is processed in your body. This may affect what treatment you should receive.
The HDL FingerprintTM method has been evaluated in large patient groups, including the Framingham Offspring Study, the VA-HIT and the HATS. The results show a strong correlation between the various HDL fractions and disease development. No other HDL method that divides the HDL particles into fractions has these data behind them.
Boston Heart HDL MapTM result
The figure below shows a typical HDL fingerprint from a normal patient (a) and from a patient with heart disease (b).
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Note that the patient with heart disease (b) is missing alpha-1 HDL (located where ”1” is in figure c). This means the patient has less ability to remove cholesterol from a plaque and dispose off it in the liver. The HDL function is reduced thereby leading to more cholesterol being available for plaque formation. |
The test will reveal which drug(s) may work to improve how your HDL functions. Niacin, statins and fibrates are groups of drugs that may or may not be effective for you. The test will let you know.
Statins affect the different HDL particles differently.
You may see the same increase in total HDL-C with two drugs, but they may differ in how they affect the number of good particles. The Boston Heart HDL MapTM will give you and your doctor information that will help you select the best therapy to get the most out of your HDL. The HDL fingerprinting can also be used to evaluate how a treatment is working. If it works the way your doctor wants, great. If it does not, you may think of another kind of therapy. Why be on a treatment that does not work?
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