term, if it is a chronic problem is associated with twice the risk of having a heart attack, down the line. that s because these people have what is called tend to have what is called the metabolic syndrome. they have a bigger waist, a lower hdl, which is a good cholesterol level, they tintend have a higher sugar and higher blood pressure and, generally speaking, are at increased risks for heart attack and stroke. so, if you are having the sleep problem, you should get it attended to. you have your thyroid checked, get a physical exam and see if anything is keeping you awake in addition to your environment. eric: all right. jamie: everybody needs their rest, the thought of sticking needles into your body, to ease pain, does it sound crazy? a new study s results may
stronger than any prior therapy. reporter: until now the focus has been on decreasing the bad ldl cholesterol with statins. that doesn t eliminate the risk of heart disease. some doctors will tell you raising the good hdl cholesterol may be even more important. a new drug anacetrapib was given to patients already on statins. it work busy lowering bad cholesterol and increasing levels of hdl, good cholesterol, which may actually help remove plaque from arteries. the results, bad cholesterol went down by 40%. and good cholesterol went up by a whopping 138%. it really has remarkable lowering of the bad cholesterol and raising of the good cholesterol. reporter: this is leaps and bounds above anything other drugs have been able to achieve. the best drug currently on the
market only raises hdl by 25%. and is poorly tolerated. anacetrapib is at least three years away from market and more testing is under way. it s still to be told whether or not these changes can be translated into meaningful benefit for patients. reporter: the next step is to see if the drug simply improves cholesterol or if it actually saves lives. dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. more tests have to be done but sales here could top, if all goes well, $1 billion a year in sales alone. which is great for the company but tells you the extent of the health problems in this country that a drug for heart disease and cholesterol could sell that well. one of the things we realize more and more, it s not just men who are affected by heart disease, women it s also a big killer of as well. both genders affected. coming up next, he is truly timeless. one of the most recognized cartoon characters ever. mickey mouse s rich history! is that good? oh, wow. more of that. abababa
we may have great news for those of you suffering with high cholesterol. researchers studying the effects of an experimental drug say they are the most effective they have seen in a decade. ldl bad cholesterol scores fell from 81 to 75. for hdl or good levels, they rose from 44 to a whopping 101. these are great numbers. with the dummy fills, they went from 40 to 46. researchers say they won t know the true impact of the trug drug until they conduct a further study. trace gallagher is in los angeles. my doctor says the vast majority
you, who look for alternative treatments. people who say, well, maybe wa have they been doing in china and africa, over thousands of years, maybe some of the things that they use, that they claim are effective, could be used by us, too,safer and less expensive. the bottom line is, that i ll give you a list of the most commonly used ones, and, generally speaking, i have to say, that many of them do work to some extent and, if you are so motivated, you should try them. the first one, is dhea. that is a components of the sex hormones and may work, especially if men, with low testosterone levels. the problem with it is sometimes it lowers the good hdl and can