Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
The amount of cholesterol in each 'bad' particle in your blood can change because of a protein called CETP, which means counting cholesterol might not give the full picture of heart disease risk.
Most of the 'bad' particles in your blood that can lead to heart disease are LDL, not the other kind (VLDL), because there are way more LDL particles floating around—even if you have high triglycerides.
ApoB is a better blood test for predicting heart disease than standard cholesterol tests because it counts the actual particles that clog arteries, while cholesterol numbers can be misleading since each particle carries different amounts of cholesterol from person to person.
Doctors can figure out certain types of unhealthy blood fat levels—like type IIb or IV—by checking your apoB, cholesterol, and triglycerides, without needing fancy or rare tests.
Doctors suggest different target levels for a blood protein called apoB depending on how high a person's heart disease risk is — 80 if risk is medium, 70 if high, and 60 if very high — and these numbers come from comparing them to another cholesterol marker.
Measuring a protein called apoB in the blood is super accurate and consistent — more so than a common cholesterol test — so it could be a great option for regular check-ups.
If your 'bad' cholesterol numbers don’t all match up, measuring apoB or non-HDL cholesterol might tell you more about your heart disease risk than the usual LDL number — high apoB means higher risk, even if LDL looks low.
Measuring apoB might give a better picture of heart disease risk than LDL cholesterol because it counts the actual number of harmful particles in your blood, not just how much cholesterol they carry.
In Chinese adults, having too little 'bad' cholesterol might actually increase the risk of bleeding strokes, especially if heart disease risk is already low — and this could mean that both very low and very high cholesterol levels are linked to higher chances of dying.
For Chinese adults with heart disease, having really low 'bad' cholesterol doesn’t seem to raise their risk of dying from heart problems or anything else — so pushing cholesterol levels way down with strong treatment might be safe.
For adults in China with diabetes, keeping 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) around 90 mg/dL seems to lower their risk of dying from any cause or heart problems more than higher levels — and lower than what’s best for people without diabetes, who do best around 115 mg/dL.
For people who already have heart disease, lower 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) is linked to lower chances of dying — and going really low, even under 70, doesn’t seem to raise risks. The sweet spot might be around 56 mg/dL.
In middle-aged and older adults in China who aren’t at high risk for heart disease, having either too low or too high 'bad' cholesterol (LDL) is linked to a higher chance of dying from any cause or heart problems — the safest zone seems to be around 106 to 118 mg/dL.
If you've had a mini-stroke or a full stroke, lowering your 'bad' cholesterol really aggressively doesn't seem to raise your chances of getting diabetes — the numbers show only a small difference between groups.
If you've had a mini-stroke or a full stroke, lowering your 'bad' cholesterol really aggressively doesn't seem to raise your risk of bleeding in the brain — one group had 1.3% risk, another had 0.9%, so it might be safe.
For people who've had a mini-stroke or full stroke, getting their 'bad' cholesterol really low — under 70 — with two cholesterol drugs seems to cut their risk of heart problems by about 22% over three and a half years, compared to keeping it a bit higher.
Almost everyone who ends up with heart disease, heart failure, or a stroke already had at least one common heart risk—like high blood pressure or cholesterol—before they got sick, no matter their age, gender, or background.
Most people already have two or more common heart risk factors—like high blood pressure or cholesterol—before they ever have a heart attack, heart failure, or stroke.
Almost everyone who had their first heart attack, stroke, or heart failure already had a known risk like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, or a history of smoking.
If someone has high 'good' cholesterol but also high 'bad' cholesterol and triglycerides, it doesn’t seem to protect their heart anymore — it’s like the good stuff loses its power when the bad stuff is too high.
If you're an adult with high 'good' cholesterol (HDL), especially when your 'bad' cholesterol and triglycerides are low, you're about 40% less likely to have heart disease compared to people with low good cholesterol — it seems high good cholesterol helps protect your heart when the rest of your lipid profile is healthy.
If an adult has low 'good' cholesterol plus high 'bad' cholesterol and high triglycerides, their risk of heart disease is much higher than if they just had low 'good' cholesterol alone.
If an adult has both low 'good' cholesterol and high triglycerides, their heart disease risk goes up more than if they just had low good cholesterol — it's like the high triglycerides make the low good cholesterol risk worse.
If an adult has both low 'good' cholesterol and high 'bad' cholesterol, their risk of heart disease is higher than if they only had low 'good' cholesterol.