Low cholesterol levels are said to be associated with poorer performance on a variety of cognitive measures.
![Poor cognitive performance with low cholesterol Poor cognitive performance with low cholesterol](https://drop.ndtv.com/images/story-noimage.png?q=50)
The subjects received biennial total cholesterol determinations over a 16 to 18 year surveillance period. Cognitive tests were administered 4 to 6 years subsequent to the surveillance period and consisted of measures of learning, memory, attention/concentration, abstract reasoning, concept formation, and organisational abilities. Statistical models were adjusted for multiple demographic and biological covariates.Individuals in the lowest total cholesterol group (less than 200 units) performed more poorly than patients with higher cholesterol levels on tests of similarities, word fluency, attention/concentration, and overall.
Participants in the lowest total cholesterol group were 49 per cent more likely to perform poorly than participants in the highest total cholesterol group (240-380). They were 80 per cent more likely to perform very poorly.Few of the participants were being treated with anti-cholesterol drugs; but the researchers were looking at naturally low and high levels of cholesterol.
February 2005
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