This NY Times article delves into the confusion among doctors regarding HDL — the so-called “good” cholesterol. Doctors have been saying that patients should pay attention to both the so-called bad cholesterol (LDL), and the good cholesterol (HDL) to prevent cardiovascular disease. As a general proposition, the doctors believed that the good cholesterol counteracted the bad. But now, some scientists say, new and continuing studies have called into question whether high levels of the good HDL cholesterol are always good and, when they are beneficial, how much. As the Times article relates:

In the meantime, doctors are calling researchers and asking what to do about patients with high H.D.L. levels, or what to do when their own H.D.L. levels are high, and patients are left with conflicting advice.
“There is so much confusion about this that it is unbelievable,” said Dr. Steven Nissen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic.

In the meantime, as noted in this earlier post, the pharmaceutical companies are watching this development closely.