FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill • Hacker News Board

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#11

Post by shlant » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:03 AM UTC

hankbond wrote: post #6

What is the current state of understanding on high cholesterol as a leading or trailing indicator of poor health? I vaguely remember reading one theory that cholesterol was used by the body to mitigate arterial damage from other causes?

the literature is very clear about the relationship between high LDL and Atherosclerosis. Are you referring to poor health in general, separate from Cardiovascular Disease?

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#12

Post by _kidlike » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:04 AM UTC

hankbond wrote: post #6

What is the current state of understanding on high cholesterol as a leading or trailing indicator of poor health? I vaguely remember reading one theory that cholesterol was used by the body to mitigate arterial damage from other causes?

cholesterol is one of the most crucial molecules for survival. It's used to create and maintain cell membranes, and other critical functions. The vast majority is created by the liver, and there are a lot of regulating signals for how much, which is where usually things go off. Low cholesterol production is an extremely serious condition. The "only" problem with high cholesterol is that it builds up inside artery walls, which eventually may or may not dislodge and may or may not cause a heart attack or an embolic stroke. (I'm not a doctor. I just get medication for high cholesterol and have done some research)

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#13

Post by moi2388 » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:05 AM UTC

shlant wrote: post #10

mediumsmart wrote: post #7

One could eat healthy instead of course but hey, the good life .

you didn't read the article did you? Or are you actually here to claim that people with hypercholesterolemia just need to eat better? Do you have the same simplistic ideas about GLP-1's?

For all people? No. For the vast majority of people? Yes. Eat healthy and exercise more.

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#14

Post by ivankra » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:06 AM UTC

hmontazeri wrote: post #9

Just do fasting and lose weight. Had high cholesterol and did that lost 20 pounds and my cholesterol went back to normal without any medical intervention

This is more about lp(a) type of cholesterol which is largely driven by genetics, and barely responds to lifestyle/diet.

lp(a) is not part of routine blood tests - you probably didn't measure it unless you specifically asked for it.

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#15

Post by liamwire » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:07 AM UTC

marcosfelt wrote: post #5

There's a nice writeup by Derek Lowe on the synthesis of this molecule: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/futuristic-synthes... It's quite a beast!

It's articles such as this that truly make me sit back and marvel at our species. What an incredible accomplishment.

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#16

Post by Kirby64 » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:08 AM UTC

hmontazeri wrote: post #9

Just do fasting and lose weight. Had high cholesterol and did that lost 20 pounds and my cholesterol went back to normal without any medical intervention

I’m glad that worked for you. That doesn’t work for everyone, and there’s plenty of people with completely healthy weights who eat healthy as well who just have outrageous cholesterol. Any medical interventions that fix genetic conditions seem like a win for me. Even fixing lifestyle issues medically (eg GLP-1s) seem like a win for me.

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#17

Post by eternauta3k » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:15 AM UTC

derektank wrote: post #4

Not really a new kind of pharmaceutical, pcsk9 inhibitors have been on the market for a while now. What’s new is that it’s an oral medication rather than an injectable

But I vaguely remember them being expensive due to not being covered by insurance. Maybe this will change that?

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#18

Post by nozzlegear » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:20 AM UTC

mediumsmart wrote: post #7

One could eat healthy instead of course but hey, the good life .

You wouldn't tell someone with diabetes or asthma to just live healthier and avoid their medication. There's nothing wrong with taking a pill, we're not cavemen living off the land.

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#19

Post by eternauta3k » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:21 AM UTC

hankbond wrote: post #6

What is the current state of understanding on high cholesterol as a leading or trailing indicator of poor health? I vaguely remember reading one theory that cholesterol was used by the body to mitigate arterial damage from other causes?

Peter Attia had a great series of blog posts on this before his fall from grace:

https://peterattiamd.com/the-straight-dope-on-cholesterol-pa...

He also had a series of podcast interviews about this with Tom Dayspring.

I believe his explanations are all mainstream, except he favors treating LDL and LP(a) more aggressively than normal doctors

Re: FDA approves new kind of cholesterol pill

#20

Post by deanc » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:23 AM UTC

mediumsmart wrote: post #7

One could eat healthy instead of course but hey, the good life .

Many people have high cholesterol due to genetics. In these cases even if you ate a 100% perfect diet it would only impact 25% of your cholesterol levels - which any physician would not be satisfied with.