Suicide associated with low cholesterol

This study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders 2004 Aug;81(2):161-6

 

Study title and authors:

Clinical application of low serum cholesterol as an indicator for suicide risk in major depression.

Kim YK, Myint AM

Department of Psychiatry, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea. yongku@korea.ac.kr

 

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15306143

This study explored the relationship between cholesterol levels and suicide risk in patients with depression. The study included 149 major depressive disorder patients admitted to an emergency room following a suicide attempt, 149 non-suicidal depressive controls, and 251 normal controls.

The study found:
(a) Depressed suicidal patients had 21% lower cholesterol levels than the normal subjects.
(b) Depressed non-suicidal patients had 5% lower cholesterol levels than the normal subjects.
(c) In suicide patients, cholesterol levels were 12% lower in violent suicide patients than non-violent suicide patients.

This study suggests that low cholesterol levels are associated with an increased risk of suicide.