When you have too much 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) in your blood, it sticks to the walls of your arteries and builds up like gunk, making them narrow and stiff — which raises your chance of having a heart attack or stroke.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Community contributions welcome
Association Between Lowering LDL-C and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Among Different Therapeutic Interventions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
This study showed that when people lower their 'bad' cholesterol (LDL), their risk of heart attacks and strokes goes down — no matter how they lower it. That means high LDL cholesterol isn't just a marker, it's a direct cause of heart disease.
Contradicting (2)
Community contributions welcome
PCSK9 stimulates Syk, PKCδ, and NF-κB, leading to atherosclerosis progression independently of LDL receptor
This study found that a protein called PCSK9 can cause artery damage through inflammation, even when cholesterol levels aren’t high — meaning high cholesterol isn’t the only way heart disease happens.
This study didn’t raise LDL to see if it causes heart disease — instead, it changed how the body handles iron and found that lowered LDL led to less plaque. So it supports that LDL matters, but doesn’t prove high LDL alone directly causes the problem.
Gold Standard Evidence Needed
According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.