Low cholesterol can reduce the risk of dementia, a new University of Bristol-led study with more than a million participants has shown.
Low cholesterol can reduce the risk of dementia, a new University of Bristol-led study with more than a million participants has shown.
The research, led by Dr Liv Tybjærg Nordestgaard while at the University of Bristol and the Department of Clinical Biochemistry at Copenhagen University Hospital – Herlev and Gentofte, found that people with certain genetic variants that naturally lower cholesterol have a lower risk of developing dementia.
The study, which is based on data from over a million people in Denmark, England, and Finland, has been published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
Some people are born with genetic variants that naturally affect the same proteins targeted by cholesterol-lowering drugs, such as statins and ezetimibe. To test the effect of cholesterol-lowering medication on the risk of dementia, the researchers used a method called Mendelian Randomisation — this genetic analysis technique allowed them to mimic the effects of these drugs to investigate how they influence the risk of dementia, while minimising the influence of confounding factors like weight, diet, and other lifestyle habits.
Read More: University of Bristol
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