Private MD News

Lowering cholesterol early in life may have benefits later in adulthood

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Individuals may not want to wait to receive an unhealthy cholesterol test result to start taking steps to improve their heart health. New research suggests that individuals who lower their cholesterol early in life are significantly less likely to develop heart disease.

For the study, researchers from Wayne State University assessed the health of individuals who had genetic variations that produce lower cholesterol levels throughout adulthood. The results showed that these individuals were much less likely to develop atherosclerosis, a common cause of heart attacks and strokes.

From this, the researchers concluded that individuals who take steps to reduce their cholesterol levels in early adulthood may be protected from developing heart disease. This suggests that, rather than waiting for a person's cholesterol levels to rise above the threshold required for treatment, physicians may want to be more proactive about lowering patients' lipid levels.

"Our study shows that the benefit of lowering LDL cholesterol depends on both the timing and the magnitude of LDL reduction," said Brian A. Ference, who led the study. "The results of our study demonstrate that the clinical benefit of lowering LDL can be substantially improved by initiating therapies to lower LDL cholesterol beginning early in life."