Low Cholesterol May Mean Poorer Mental Powers

Elias PK, Elias MF, D'Agostino RB, et al. Serum Cholesterol and Cognitive Performance in the Framingham Heart Study. Psychosomatic Medicine 2005; 67:24?30.

ABSTRACT

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between total cholesterol (TC) and cognitive performance within the context of the Framingham Heart Study, a large, community-based, prospective investigation of cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: Participants were 789 men and 1105 women from the Framingham Heart Study original cohort who were free of dementia and stroke and who received biennial TC 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 organizational abilities. Statistical models were adjusted for multiple demographic and biological covariates.

Results: There was a significant positive linear association between TC and measures of verbal fluency, attention/concentration, abstract reasoning, and a composite score measuring multiple cognitive domains. Performance levels for three clinically defined groups were examined. Participants with "desirable" TC levels (<200 mg/dL) performed less well than participants with borderline-high TC levels (200-239 mg/dL) and participants with high TC levels (>>240 mg/dL).

Conclusions: Lower naturally occurring TC levels are associated with poorer performance on cognitive measures, which place high demands on abstract reasoning, attention/concentration, word fluency, and executive functioning.

COMMENT: The lead author, Dr. Penelope K. Elias from Boston University said that "It is not entirely surprising that lower cholesterol levels were associated with moderately lower levels of cognitive function, given (that) cholesterol is important in brain function."

This is not the first study to show that lowering cholesterol levels can have adverse side effects. Cholesterol is a vital component in so many body functions that practically every body cell has the capacity to manufacture it. This is a fully automatic process in which our bodies make the exact amount of cholesterol they need, and they are not in the habit of making substances that will harm them. You mess about with this process at your peril.