Low cholesterol levels associated with increased cardiovascular deaths

This study was published in the Journal of Korean Medical Science 2012 Jan;27(1):58-63

Study title and authors:
Low cholesterol is associated with mortality from cardiovascular diseases: a dynamic cohort study in Korean adults.

Bae JM, Yang YJ, Li ZM, Ahn YO.
Department of Preventive Medicine, Jeju National University School of Medicine, Jeju, Korea.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22219615

This study was conducted to evaluate the association of  cholesterol levels with cardiovascular diseases deaths. The study included 12,740 adults aged 40 to 69 years who were followed for 15 years.

The study found:
(a) Those with high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels below 41 mg/dL (1.06 mmol/L) had an 139% increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases compared to those with high density lipoprotein levels (HDL) cholesterol above 59 mg/dL (1.52 mmol/L).
(b) Those with cholesterol levels below 160 mg/dL (4.13 mmol/L) had a 69% increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases compared to those with cholesterol between 200-240 mg/dL (5.17-6.2 mmol/L).

Bae concludes: "Based on the results of this study, caution should be taken in prescribing statins for primary prevention among people at low cardiovascular risk".

Links to other studies:
Low cholesterol increases the risk of death by 75% after a heart attack
Low levels of low density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol are associated with higher death rates in patients with acute heart failure
Low cholesterol levels are associated with higher death rates