New Scientist - USA (2019-12-07)

8 | New Scientist | 7 December 2019

A PERSON’S cholesterol levels

before the age of 45 can predict

their lifetime risk of developing

cardiovascular disease. The

finding has prompted debate

about whether younger people

should be recommended

preventative measures, such

as taking statins.

The result comes from an

analysis of medical data on nearly

400,000 people of European

ancestry from across Europe,

Australia and North America.

The study found that when blood

concentrations of non-HDL

cholesterol – often known as

“bad cholesterol” – are higher than

145 milligrams per 100 millilitres

before the age 45, a person’s

relative risk of developing heart

disease at some point in their life

nearly doubles.

For concentrations between 100

and 145 milligrams before 45, the

relative lifetime risk increases by

10 to 20 per cent (The Lancet, DOI:

10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32519-X).

“It is important because people

might want to know how they

could lower their risk,” says Frank

Kee at Queen’s University Belfast,

UK, who worked on the study.

We have known since the

1980s that cholesterol is linked

to atherosclerosis – the clogging

of arteries that can cause

cardiovascular disease, which

includes heart disease and stroke.

There are many ways a person

can lower their lifetime risk of

this, such as lifestyle changes and

taking medications. For example,

in the past 30 years, statin drugs

have been widely prescribed to

lower cholesterol, contributing

to small life expectancy gains.

Under existing guidelines,

people in the UK and US are

only prescribed statins based on

their estimated 10-year risk of

developing cardiovascular disease,

not their lifetime risk, says Kee.

The study provides compelling

data that lowering cholesterol

earlier on in life could be highly

beneficial, says Betty Raman at

the University of Oxford.

However, statins can have

painful side effects, and some

researchers, including the

Danish doctor Uffe Ravnskov,

argue that there is no link

between cholesterol levels and

heart disease – although this is

disputed by many. Ravnskov

suggests that the link between

cholesterol and cardiovascular risk

in this study might be explained

by stress, which younger adults

are more likely to experience.

But Tom Marshall at the

University of Birmingham, UK,

says the findings add to a body

of work showing that the link

between cholesterol and heart

disease is stronger at younger

ages. “This means that the relative

benefits of treatment may be

larger in younger people,” he says.

However, Marshall says there

isn’t enough evidence yet to

change statin guidelines. That is

because it isn’t clear how much

extra benefit someone would get

from taking high-dose statins

10 or 20 years earlier, he says. ❚

“There are many ways a

person can lower lifetime

risk of heart disease,

including medication”

Health

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News

Technology

Amazon gets in

on the quantum

computer revolution

THE quantum computing race has

a new competitor. Amazon has

announced it will partner with

three firms to offer online access

to prototype quantum processors.

Through a new service called

Amazon Braket, customers will be

able to test algorithms on quantum

processors from D-Wave Systems,

IonQ and Rigetti Computing.

Each of these three firms takes a

different approach to making such

processors, which rely on subatomic

quantum effects. IonQ’s version

uses trapped ions manipulated by

lasers as quantum bits – or qubits,

which are the equivalent to bits in

classical computers. Rigetti uses

superconducting qubits, as does

D-Wave, but the latter’s device is

a more limited system known as

a quantum annealer, rather than

a full-blown computer.

These various approaches to

qubits all have drawbacks. “I think

for Amazon they’re looking at this

also as a time to see which one’s

really going to work,” says Peter

Chapman at IonQ. “Put us all on

the marketplace and see who wins.”

Because quantum computers are

finicky and expensive to maintain,

Amazon has, for now, decided to

partner with these firms rather than

compete with the likes of Google

and IBM by building its own device.

“I think it is safe to say that most

organizations will never own a

quantum computer, and will find

the cloud-based, on-demand model

a better fit. It may well be the case

that production-scale quantum

computers are the first cloud-only

technology,” wrote Jeff Barr at

Amazon Web Services in a blog.

“We share a common goal with

Amazon that more developers and

businesses need access to quantum

computing, and the cloud is the best

way to scale that,” says Alan Baratz

at D-Wave Systems.

Amazon Braket isn’t the

first cloud quantum computing

service; Microsoft and IBM offer

their own versions. The three firms

involved with Braket have also

made sessions on their processors

available separately in the past.

Amazon could yet try to build a

quantum computer. A spokesperson

says the company will develop

quantum hardware in the future. ❚

Chelsea Whyte

Predicting heart disease risk

Cholesterol levels in under-45s linked to cardiovascular disease in later life

A health check in your

early 40s can predict

your cardiovascular risk