Lower LDL is not always necessarily better

Cholesterol: is lower always better? In light of recent trends in treatment approaches that essentially are set to drive LDL cholesterol to very low serum concentrations, the results of a study published in the prestigious journal Neurology are of interest. 96,043 participants (mean age 51.3 years) who has no history of stroke, MI or cancer at baseline were studied, assessing cumulative average LDL-C concentrations were calculated over a six year period. Incident Intracranial Haemorrhage was confirmed by review of medical records.There were 753 incident ICH cases during the study. The ICH risk was similar among participants with LDL concentrations of 70 to 99 mg/dL (1.8 – 2.56 mmol/L) and those with LDL-C concentrations ≥100 mg/dL. People with LDL-C concentrations <70 mg/dL had a significantly higher risk of developing ICH than those with LDL-C concentrations of 70 to 99 mg/dL; adjusted hazard ratios were 1.65 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.32-2.05) for LDL-C concentrations of 50 to 69 mg/dL (1.29 – 1.78 mmol/L) and 2.69 (95% CI 2.03-3.57) for LDL-C concentrations <50 mg/dL. Potential for haemorrhagic stroke appears to be a potentially important issue to consider when using lipid-lowering treatment. See more detail here