Low cholesterol may raise risk of death in elderly

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Low cholesterol may raise risk of death in elderly

 

August 06, 2001

 

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Elderly people with very

low cholesterol levels may be at increased risk of

death, according to results of a new study.

 

The findings seem to contradict recommendations to

maintain low blood levels of cholesterol to decrease

the risk of heart disease. However, those

recommendations are based on studies in people under

65 and may have less relevance to older people, write

the authors of the study in the August 4th issue of

The Lancet.

 

Visit the Cholesterol Topic Center

 

Dr. Irwin Schatz, of the University of Hawaii at

Manoa, and colleagues measured blood cholesterol

levels of more than 3,500 Japanese-American men aged

71-93 years and compared readings taken from the same

group of men 20 years earlier. The study volunteers

were divided in to four groups according to their

cholesterol levels.

 

Compared with men with the lowest cholesterol levels

(2.09-4.32 mmol/L, or approximately 81-167 mg/dl),

those with the highest levels (5.44-9.88 mmol/L, or

approximately 210-382 mg/dl) were 35% less likely to

die of all causes. Those men in the group with the

lowest cholesterol at both points were significantly

more likely to die than others, report researchers.

 

In an interview with Reuters Health, Schatz said it is

not clear why very low cholesterol levels would be

associated with an increased risk of death, and that a

properly designed study of the causes would be needed.

 

" In the meantime, prudence dictates that we be less

aggressive in lowering cholesterol in the elderly, " he

said.

 

Further, it is not clear whether low cholesterol

achieved and maintained naturally has a different

effect than low cholesterol achieved through

medication.