Low Cholesterol & Low Prostate Cancer Risk?

Seems a bit too good to be true, but could a lower cholesterol level mean a lower risk for high-grade prostate cancer, an aggressive cancer that has worse outcomes than low-grade prostate cancer.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins have found – for the third time – that lower levels of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) resulted in a 60% lower risk of high-grade prostate cancer in a group of more than 5000 men. The same results were found in two earlier studies, in 2006 and 2008.

In this study,

5,586 men aged 55 and older enrolled in the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial from 1993 to 1996. Some 1,251 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer during the study period.

Men with cholesterol levels lower than 200 mg/dL had a 59 percent lower risk of developing high-grade prostate cancers, which tend to grow and spread rapidly.

The study isn’t the end-all-be-all because although the researchers did take into account factors that could affect the results, such as smoking history, weight, family history of prostate cancer, and dietary cholesterol,

other things could have affected their results. One example is whether men in the study were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs at the time of the blood collections, a data point the researchers expect to analyze soon.

But this doesn’t mean the information isn’t valid; it just means that more research needs to be done.

Do you know what your cholesterol level is?

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TIP OF THE DAY: How can you remember which cholesterol is “bad” and which is “good”? (Yes, here is a good cholesterol – you need it to help build healthy cells).

LDL is the one you want LOW – L for Low. HDL is the good one and you want it to be HIGH – H for HDL.

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Image: Newscom.com