Low Levels of Cholesterol Are Tied to Strokes

While off-the-chart cholesterol levels can trigger strokes, a new study raises the possibility that unusually low amounts may sometimes cause them as well.

High cholesterol is always portrayed in public health messages as an undivided evil. A study presented Saturday at the American Heart Assn.’s annual stroke conference suggests that, in truth, the facts about cholesterol are a little more complicated, even though on balance low cholesterol is still far better than high cholesterol.

The latest study found that very high cholesterol raises the risk of strokes that result from blood clots in the brain. But it also showed that low cholesterol increases the hazard of the less common but potentially devastating hemorrhagic strokes that result from burst blood vessels in the brain.

The study calculated that the perfect cholesterol level, at least, for preventing strokes, is about 200, which coincidentally is the target established by the federal government’s National Cholesterol Education Program.

Other experts argued that, even if low cholesterol carries a small risk, the hazard is vastly overshadowed by other benefits to the heart and the brain.