When someone has a serious heart attack, having lower 'bad' cholesterol might actually mean there's more inflammation happening in their body, which could be a sign of worse health.

When people have a certain type of heart attack, those with lower 'bad' cholesterol tend to have lower levels of inflammation in their blood.

In heart attack patients, those with the lowest 'bad' cholesterol levels tend to have more inflammation than those with higher 'bad' cholesterol levels.

Even when diabetics take pills to lower their bad cholesterol, if they still have high levels of a blood marker called hsCRP, they’re still at high risk for heart attacks and strokes — meaning inflammation is still hurting them.

If people with a recent heart problem lower their 'bad' cholesterol by more than half right away, they might get more heart protection from stronger cholesterol treatment.