Elderly people with low blood levels of so-called “good” HDL cholesterol are at increased risk of developing dementia, according to researchers from a university in the Netherlands. The researchers found that elderly men and women with the lowest blood levels of HDL cholesterol were more than twice as likely to have dementia as those with the highest HDL levels. Furthermore, the risk of developing dementia for those with the lowest HDL levels increased fourfold when the researchers excluded patients with a history of heart disease or stroke, both of which are independent risk factors of dementia, from the results. Study author Dr Anton J M de Craen said of his findings: “These findings are of great clinical importance since they suggest that increasing HDL cholesterol…might prevent the development of cognitive impairment and dementia.”
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Annals of Neurology 2002; 51:716-721
