Fluctuating Cholesterol Levels Linked to 60% Higher Dementia Risk \ stacker news ~science

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Fluctuating Cholesterol Levels Linked to 60% Higher Dementia Risk scitechdaily.com/fluctuating-cholesterol-levels-linked-to-60-higher-dementia-risk/

107 sats \ 3 comments \ @south_korea_ln 29 Jan science

Bad news for me as my bi-yearly government mandated health checkup came back with some bad cholesterol results.

The study was done on old people though.

Could changes in cholesterol be a warning sign of dementia? A new study suggests that older adults whose cholesterol fluctuates significantly over time are more likely to develop dementia than those with stable levels.

[...]

Note that the study does not prove that cholesterol changes cause dementia — only that there is a connection between the two.

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Signal312 19h

Nutrition studies are mostly very low quality. Nina Teicholtz has a new article out: US Dietary Guidelines: Science is "Subpar," Cannot be Replicated: New paper finds systematic reviews to be of “critically low quality"

If you can't access the above link, here's an unpaywalled version: https://archive.vn/XhXvg

I recommend the book The Big Fat Surprise, by Nina Teicholtz. It's an amazing journey through our nutritional guidelines, how the "science" going into them was a giant tarball of special interests and poorly done research.

I wrote a more involved review of The Big Far Surprise here: #320715

That book really took the scales off my eyes. I no longer believed the standard narrative (low-fat, fruit, vegetables, and fiber is good, meat, eggs, butter, saturated fat is bad). I started reading and listening to carnivore authors, and am now carnivore. Best thing I've ever done for my health.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @k00b 29 Jan

Control is hard:

A limitation of the study is that while people who started or stopped taking cholesterol drugs were not included in the study to eliminate the medication-induced fluctuations in cholesterol, researchers did not have information on any changes in dosage or people who did not take their medication as prescribed, which could affect cholesterol changes.

This makes me curious about potential causes for cholesterol fluctuations. Presuming this isn't causal, what is?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 23h

It's very hard, indeed.

Known reasons for cholesterol changes can vary among

change in exercise/activity routine
dietary changes
stress/sleep habits
alcohol consumption
genetics
....

So, unless the study accounts for these, seems like cholesterol change might just be at best an indirect marker of potential risk to develop dementia.