![]() This is significant if we want to offer medication or lifestyle advice about preventing heart disease to those over 50 years old. A follow-up from the initial Framingham study suggested that there was only an increase in mortality, by heart disease or other causes, in people with higher cholesterol levels under the age of 50. However, a closer examination of the issue may make us sceptical of this conclusion.įirstly, the evidence about the association between high LDL levels and heart disease is more complicated than it first appears. This evidence seems to point towards there being a causal connection between cholesterol in heart disease. Statins, for example are effective in both lowering cholesterol levels, and reducing the rates of CHD, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke. In addition to this, some medical treatments which reduce cholesterol/LDL levels also reduce your risk of heart disease. The Framingham Study, a prospective cohort study beginning with over 5,000 participants, published a paper in 1977 which concluded that higher HDL levels and lower LDL levels were associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Firstly, there is evidence of a correlation between high cholesterol/LDL levels and heart disease. There are some reasons to suggest that this hypothesis is correct. ![]() Whereas HDLs (high density lipoproteins), are the ‘good’ type of cholesterol, and these have the opposite effect. This explanation posits that LDLs are the ‘bad’ type of cholesterol, which can stick to the inner walls of your blood vessels and potentially clog them, leading to heart conditions such as stroke, atherosclerosis, angina and coronary heart disease (CHD). For one thing, we have a plausible-sounding explanation as to why they should be. The association between cholesterol and heart diseaseĪt first glance, it seems that we have substantial reasons to believe that high cholesterol and heart disease are closely linked. Different studies point towards a number of conflicting conclusions, and ultimately the picture is a lot more complicated than most media on the topic would suggest. In supermarkets, you’ll find a significant array of spreads, yoghurts and cereals which claim to improve your cholesterol levels and decrease your risk of heart disease.īut what actually is the evidence that having high cholesterol, or high LDL (low density lipoprotein) levels, increases your chance getting heart disease? You may be surprised to learn that the studies available to us do not all point towards a causal connection between high cholesterol and heart disease. High cholesterol is listed as one of the five main risk factors for heart disease by the British Heart Foundation, and the NHS public guidelines on cholesterol claim that “your risk of developing coronary heart disease rises as your blood’s cholesterol level increases”. The idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease is so widespread you’d have thought it was pretty much an established fact by now.
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