Should elderly people be afraid of cholesterol?

On 24 May 2005 19:31:00 GMT, Ignoramus19430
wrote:

In elderly people, low cholesterol is associated with HIGHER
mortality. Why that is so, remains to be explained, but I find this
to be rather interesting. For fairness, it must be said that
correlation is not causation and low cholesterol could be a symptom of
something else that causes elderly people who have low cholesterol to
die more frequently.


Cholesterol either does not cause or is only marginally related to heart
disease for anyone. It's a myth.

http://www.thincs.org/



--
Bob M
remove ".x" to reply

It's really dreadfully simple but few seem to get the correct direction
of cause and effect here. The illnesses (such as cancer)that precede
death and the symptoms produced by these illnesses and their treatments
(such as loss of appetite) also generally lower cholesterol. In other
words, low cholesterol levels do not cause (note the word cause) an
increased risk of death and I defy anyone to quote any study that
proves otherwise. Some dangerous misinformation is now being widely
spread by people who should know better. Comments are welcome.

Ignoramus19430 wrote:
In elderly people, low cholesterol is associated with HIGHER
mortality. Why that is so, remains to be explained, but I find this
to be rather interesting. For fairness, it must be said that
correlation is not causation and low cholesterol could be a symptom of
something else that causes elderly people who have low cholesterol to
die more frequently.

[Risk factors for requiring long-term care among middle-aged and
elderly people]
Gohgi Y, Une H.
Risk factors significantly associated with higher all-cause mortality
were age, low BMI, low total cholesterol, liver dysfunction, and
smoking among males and females, as well as urine sugar among males
and anemia among females.
PMID: 15859121

Relationship between plasma lipids and all-cause mortality in
nondemented elderly.
Schupf N, Costa R, Luchsinger J, Tang MX, Lee JH, Mayeux R.
RESULTS: Nondemented elderly with levels of total cholesterol,
non-HDL-C, and LDL-C in the lowest quartile were approximately twice
as likely to die as those in the highest quartile (rate ratio
(RR)=1.8, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.3-2.4). These results did not
vary when analyses were adjusted for body mass index, APOE genotype,
diabetes mellitus, heart disease, hypertension, stroke, diagnosis of
cancer, current smoking status, or demographic variables.
PMID: 15673344

High levels of C-reactive protein with low total cholesterol
concentrations additively predict all-cause mortality in patients with
coronary artery disease.
Janoskuti L, Forhecz Z, Hosszufalusi N, Kleiber M, Walentin S, Balint
O, Duba J, Rugonfalvi-Kiss S, Romics L, Karadi I, Fust G, Prohaszka Z.
CONCLUSIONS: High CRP levels and low TC concentrations are independent
and additive predictors of mortality in patients with CAD.
PMID: 15667581

High-density vs low-density lipoprotein cholesterol as the risk factor
for coronary artery disease and stroke in old age.
Weverling-Rijnsburger AW, Jonkers IJ, van Exel E, Gussekloo J,
Westendorp RG.
A high total serum cholesterol level does not carry a risk of
cardiovascular mortality among people 85 years and older and is
related to decreased all-cause mortality. ... RESULTS: During 4 years of
follow-up, 152 subjects died. The leading cause of death was
cardiovascular disease, with similar mortality risks in all tertiles
of LDL cholesterol level. In contrast, low HDL cholesterol level was
associated with a 2.0-fold higher risk of fatal cardiovascular disease
(95% confidence interval [CI], 1.2-3.2). The mortality risk of
coronary artery disease was 2.0 (95% CI, 1.0-3.9) and for stroke it
was 2.6 (95% CI, 1.0-6.6). Both low LDL cholesterol and low HDL
cholesterol concentrations were associated with an increased mortality
risk of infection: 2.7 (95% CI, 1.2-6.2) and 2.4 (95% CI, 1.1-5.6),
respectively. The risks were unaffected by comorbidity. CONCLUSION: In
contrast to high LDL cholesterol level, low HDL cholesterol level is a
risk factor for mortality from coronary artery disease and stroke in
old age.
PMID: 12860577