The higher your cholesterol levels - the longer you live!

This study was published in the Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice 25 Sept 2011

Study title and authors:
Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study
Halfdan Petursson MD, Johann A. Sigurdsson MD Dr med, Calle Bengtsson MD Dr med, Tom I. L. Nilsen Dr Philos, Linn Getz MD PhD

Research Unit of General Practice, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

This study can be accessed at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x/pdf

The study (ten years of duration) investigated if cholesterol levels are a risk factor for mortality in 52,087 individuals (24,235 men and 27,852 women) aged 20–74 years and free from known cardiovascular disease at the start of the study.

The study found:

(a) Compared with women whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading over 7.0 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) enjoyed a 28% reduction of death.

(b) Compared with men whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading over 7.0 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) enjoyed a 11% reduction of death.

(c) Compared with women whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading over 7.0 mmol/l (270 mg/dl) enjoyed a 26% reduction of cardiovascular diseases.

(d) Compared with men whose cholesterol was under 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), those with a reading up to 5.9 mmol/l (228 mg/dl) enjoyed a 20% reduction of cardiovascular diseases.

The study shows if you have cholesterol levels above 5.0 mmol/l (193 mg/dl), you will live longer.