A recent study showed that men and women in their early 40’s with elevated blood cholesterol levels are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with low cholesterol. This study was conducted by Alina Solomon of the University of Kuopio in Finland, Rachel Whitmer of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, and their colleagues. This report is one of the largest to link cholesterol to the degenerative brain disease.
Researchers found that people who had cholesterol values of 249 to 500 milligrams per deciliter were 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than those with cholesterol less than 198. Those with cholesterol of 221 to 248 were 1.25 times more likely to develop the disease.