This Common Heart Change May Lead To Higher Dementia Risk

According to , “the most comprehensive research into cholesterol ever conducted in the UK has found 54% of Brits could have high total cholesterol levels”. Associations between high cholesterol and dementia , but a new study says that changes in – as well as levels of – cholesterol may increase your risk of developing the condition too. Research shared at the found that older people whose blood cholesterol levels fluctuated were more likely to develop dementia.

The study has yet to undergo peer review. The researchers looked at almost 10,000 older adults in their 70s across six years. All the participants were a part of , a research project that tracks how low doses of aspirin affect the health of older adults.



None of the participants had dementia at the start of the study, and all had their cholesterol levels measured year on year. Those in the top 25% of fluctuations ― meaning the people whose blood cholesterol levels changed more than three-quarters of the other participants’ did ― developed dementia at a rate than those with less fluctuation. They were also 23% more likely to develop cognitive decline, which is sometimes seen as a precursor to dementia.

“Older people with fluctuating cholesterol levels unrelated to whether they were taking lipid-lowering medications – particularly those experiencing big year-to-year variations — may warrant closer monitoring and proactive preventive interventions,” the study’s lead author . That’s not at all what the paper says. It only looked at older people, and didn’t prove that high cholesterol caused dementia ― it just found an association.

“We need future studies to help us understand the relationship between cholesterol variability and dementia risk,” Dr Zhou “Are cholesterol variability levels a real risk factor, a precursor or a biomarker of dementia risk? One possible explanation is that significant fluctuations in total and LDL cholesterol levels may destabilise atherosclerotic plaques, which are mostly composed of LDL cholesterol,” “This destabilisation can raise the risk of plaque growth, rupture and subsequent obstruction of blood flow in the brain, which may therefore impact brain function.” If further studies find a cause-and-effect relationship, which this did not, about cholesterol’s potential as an early dementia risk factor indicator. Related.

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