Pill may boost HDL 'good' cholesterol

Once again, an experimental pill that boosts levels of HDL "good" cholesterol has shown promising results in a mid-stage study. In a three-month study of nearly 400 people, the drug evacetrapib raised HDL and lowered LDL, the so-called "bad cholesterol" - both when given alone and with standard cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Importantly, evacetrapib did not routinely increase blood pressure or produce any of the other toxic effects that halted development of its predecessor, torcetrapib. The big question, however, is whether raising levels of good cholesterol will prevent heart attacks, strokes, and deaths, says Robert Harrington, MD, of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. He was not involved with the study, but has consulted for the maker of another HDL-boosting drug