Can lowering your cholesterol reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s?

(Rachel Murphy/ Very Well Health) — A new study may have some insight into a previously unknown risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease: fluctuating cholesterol levels.

The study, published in Neurology, examined the electronic health records of 11,571 individuals in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from 2006 to 2018. None of the participants had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the beginning of the study.

The final analysis showed that those in the group with the most cholesterol fluctuation over 13 years had a 19% higher occurrence of Alzheimer’s. While cholesterol levels alone likely can’t make or break Alzheimer’s risk, experts say its impact on blood flow inflammation are important reasons to get it under control for better brain health.

Researchers didn’t just look at cholesterol for the study. They analyzed four lipid measurements: total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). (…)