We can now lower bad cholesterol to super low levels with treatment — even lower than what babies or some animals have — but we're not sure if that's totally safe over the long term.

Even if medicine lowers your 'bad' cholesterol to super low levels—like what you see in babies or animals—your body can still make the hormones and digestive juices it needs.

Having really low 'bad' cholesterol thanks to how your body naturally processes it doesn’t seem to cause health problems, even over many years.

Can someone be perfectly healthy even if their 'bad' cholesterol is super low—like 14 mg/dL?

Really low 'bad' cholesterol might actually be a sign your body is doing a great job cleaning it out — not something to worry about.

High cholesterol might not be the main reason for heart disease, and having too little cholesterol could actually be risky — so the old idea that cholesterol causes heart problems might not tell the whole story, especially for preventing heart issues in healthy people.