Here’s What Cholesterol Can Do To the Brain.
There’s growing evidence that the heart and brain are connected, since both rely on keeping the blood system healthy. Now, in a study published in the journal Circulation, researchers find that changes in levels of LDL cholesterol may be especially harmful to cognitive functions.
The scientists, led by Dr. Roelof Smit at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, studied more than 4000 elderly people enrolled in a study involving a statin, a medication that lowers LDL cholesterol. Previous studies showed that LDL levels influence stroke as well as heart disease risk, so Smit and his colleagues wanted to investigate whether they have an effect on cognitive functions like attention, information processing and memory. They only analyzed people who had been taking the statin for at least three months in order to avoid any bias caused by the sudden change in LDL levels by the drug, and compared them to people who didn’t take the drug.