High cholesterol versus low cholesterol. Good cholesterol versus bad cholesterol. Mid-life high cholesterol versus late-life high cholesterol… Sometimes understanding the cholesterol big picture is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”!
Now you can add another curious twist: there may be an important correlation between higher late-life cholesterol levels and lower risks of of dementia and general cognitive decline.
A new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia links high cholesterol with a lower risk of cognitive decline for people over 85 years old. But that might not necessarily mean that having high cholesterol prevents dementia…
They were surprised to find that for people aged 85 to 94 years old, having higher late-life than midlife cholesterol was correlated with a 32 percent lower risk of cognitive decline. In other words, higher cholesterol among the very old was associated with a reduced chance for dementia. (Source: Hartford Courant)
It may be a little premature (and several degrees short of definitive) but it’s heartening to consider the possibility that higher late-life cholesterol could lower the risk of cognitive decline. Watch this space…