Could Very Low 'Bad' Cholesterol Bring Stroke Danger?

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Could Very Low 'Bad' Cholesterol Bring Stroke Danger?

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By Alan Mozes

HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, April 10, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Despite years of being told that the lower your LDL cholesterol the better, is it possible that levels that are too low might harm you?

Yes, say researchers who now report that women who have excessively low LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels may face a higher risk for a bleeding stroke.

The finding runs counter to government guidelines that state people should strive to keep their LDL levels below 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).

But after tracking nearly 28,000 women aged 45 and up for two decades, investigators determined that women with LDL levels of 70 mg/dL or lower were more than twice as likely to experience a bleeding ("hemorrhagic") stroke than those with LDL levels in the range of 100 to 130 mg/dL.

A similar dynamic was seen with blood fats known as triglycerides. Women with the lowest fasting triglyceride levels (74 mg/dL or less) also saw their bleeding stroke risk double when compared to women with the highest levels (156 mg/dL and up).

Still, one heart expert urged caution in interpreting the results.

Dr. Gregg Fonarow is co-director of the preventative cardiology program at the University of California, Los Angeles. He stressed that the increased risks "are small in absolute terms," and there is a far greater risk that a patient with high LDL levels might experience a blood clot, an "ischemic" (clot-caused) stroke or a heart attack.

Prior research indicates that "there is not significant increases in hemorrhagic stroke, and the risk of ischemic stroke is significantly reduced," Fonarow noted.

How to explain the latest finding?

"The full mechanisms by which very low levels of LDL cholesterol or low triglyceridesincrease the risk of hemorrhagic stroke are not known yet," said study author Pamela Rist. She is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

But Rist pointed to the theory that low LDL and triglycerides might weaken blood vessel walls. And that could raise the risk for a bleeding stroke, though the study did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Though far less common than ischemic strokes, bleeding strokes -- which occur when a blood vessel bursts and bleeds into the brain -- are trickier to treat and often more deadly.

Rist said prior studies suggest that the same risk might also affect men, though her team did not explore that possibility.

Rist's team also did not explore the link between very low LDL levels and the risk for experiencing an ischemic stroke, which accounts for 87 percent of all strokes, according to the American Stroke Association.

The findings were reported online April 10 in the journal Neurology.

All of the women in the study had been part of the Women's Health Initiative, a long-term national study that tracked both HDL ("good") and LDL cholesterol levels, as well as triglycerides. Levels were measured just once, at the beginning of the study.

Source.

medicinenet.com/script/main...

[Luckysugar]

Very interesting study. This finding may reassure many women who have refused the doctor's advice from taking statins to lower their LDL &TG. We really need to have a true and effective guidelines relevant to cholesterol levels. Many people are unsure what to do or not to do with their elevated C-levels. Even doctor's views on this matter also contradict.

[sandybrown]

There are four types of strokes, we need to understand all four. Humans needs to understand all three blood numbers, blood pressure, blood glucose and blood cholesterol.

As we age we need to do regular health checks if possible. General health, blood pressure, blood glucose and blood cholesterol all are important for a healthy life.

How many people understand, aneurysm ? There are two types AAA & TAA, one is easy to check with ultra sound, the other may be a CT scan and expensive.

[sandybrown]

What is the number for very low bad cholesterol?

"Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, often referred to as "bad" cholesterol, is the type that tends to deposit on the walls of the arteries. White blood cells combine with the LDL cholesterol, forming artery-narrowing plaque, which restricts blood flow. The optimal level of LDL cholesterol for most people is 100 mg/dL or lower. If you have heart disease, you may need to strive for LDL levels of 70 mg/dL or lower."

But after tracking nearly 28,000 women aged 45 and up for two decades, investigators determined that women with LDL levels of 70 mg/dL or lower were more than twice as likely to experience a bleeding ("hemorrhagic") stroke than those with LDL levels in the range of 100 to 130 mg/dL.

It is confusing, what are the above two saying?