The finding indicate towards the need to change the current threshold value of the cholesterol level, said study author Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow

“The LDL cholesterol level at which people have heart attacks shouldn’t be considered as normal,” Fonarow said. Yardstick

LDL cholesterol, in other words “bad” cholesterol, accumulates to form plaques that ultimately block arteries. Values evaluated by U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute are 130 milligrams per deciliter for healthy people and 70 milligram per deciliter for those who have high risk factors such as obesity, smoking and hypertension and diabetes.

But the collected data of 137,000 cardiac arrest patients, from 2000 to 2006, showed that, about three-quarter had bad cholesterol level below 130 at the time of hospitalization, while 17.6 percent had LDL levels below 70.

“With LDL levels from 100 to 130, people may feel risk free,” Fonarow said. “In this study, there was nothing normal about having an LDL reading of 100.”

Cholesterol is only one aspect in heart attack, Fonarow said. Risk increase with age, especially for males and who have had a family history.

“The positive thing is that, 80 percent of the risk factors are controllable,” Fonarow said. “We can’t change our family history, age or sex, but what we can do is to keep our blood pressure low, exercise and change our lifestyle in that way which has minimum risks.”

In their study that includes 3,000 employed men, researchers from Sweden found that there was a strong link between the risk of heart attacks and other heart diseases, and bad leadership. This risk goes up if the employee works under this boss for long time.

The study has been published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

The results of some previous studies have shown that hot tempered and arrogant bosses may become the cause of driving up their workers’ blood pressure that may lead to higher risk of disease if persistent.

In their study, the researchers from Karolinska Institute and Stockholm University gathered information about the heart health of those male employees who worked around Stockholm area and aged 19 to 70.

The researchers found that there were 74 cases of serious heart attacks, acute angina and death from ischaemic heart disease over a period of ten years.

The participants of the study were asked to rate their bosses according to their leadership style on abilities like communication and giving feedback and setting goals for their staff etc.

The researchers found that the employees who rated their bosses as least competent had almost a 25% higher risk of a heart disease than those who rated their bosses as quite competent.

Data from 1041 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on dialysis was analyzed and the researchers found that there were 658 deaths (including 146 cases of sudden cardiac death) over 9.5 years.

After that the team examined previously recorded results of blood test from 122 (out of 146 sudden deaths) patents to note the levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and albumin. The proteins hsCRP and IL-6 are known as the makers of common blood vessel and organ inflammation, while low albumin levels are linked to malnutrition.

The researchers found that patients with high levels of hsCRP or IL-6 had two times higher risk of experiencing sudden cardiac death.

The study has been published online and expected to be in the Kidney International Nov.3 issue.