The lower the cholesterol level - the higher the risk of suicide

This study was published in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2003 Sep;108(3):215-21

Study title and authors:
Serum lipid levels and suicide attempts.

Lee HJ, Kim YK.
Department of Psychiatry, Korea University, College of Medicine, Ansan City, Korea.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12890277

The objective of the study was to determine whether a correlation exists between lower cholesterol levels and increased suicide risk. Cholesterol levels were measured in 60 patients who had recently experienced failed attempts at suicide and equal numbers of non-suicidal patients.

The study found:
(a) Total cholesterol levels were significantly lower in suicide attempt patients compared to non-suicidal patients.
(b) Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels were significantly lower in suicide attempt patients compared to non-suicidal patients.
(c) The lower the cholesterol level - the higher the risk of suicide.

This study shows the lower the cholesterol level - the higher the risk of suicide.

Links to other studies:
Evidence of how low cholesterol leads to suicidal behaviour
Low cholesterol levels are associated with more suicide attempts
Those with the lowest cholesterol levels have more than six times the risk of committing suicide than those with the highest cholesterol levels