High cholesterol at midlife linked to dementia

(San Francisco Chronicle) UPDATED 2009-08-04

A new study has found that having borderline to moderately high cholesterol at midlife could significantly increase a person's risk of developing dementia later in life. Investigators analyzed data on Kaiser Permanente members in Northern California over a four-decade period. They found that the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease rose by as much as 66 percent in people with high cholesterol (240 mg/dl or higher) in their 40s. For middle-aged people with moderately high cholesterol (200-239 mg/dl), the risk of developing vascular dementia--the second-most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's--increased by 52 percent. Scientists say their study adds to growing body evidence linking cholesterol to Alzheimer's. Read full story >

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