Browse evidence-based analysis of health-related claims and assertions
People born with a certain gene change that lowers their bad cholesterol over their whole life might have a lower chance of getting dementia, and this could be because of better blood vessel health in the brain.
Mechanistic
In White people, having genes that naturally lower PCSK9 are linked to a lower chance of developing leg circulation problems, possibly because of how these genes affect cholesterol.
Correlational
People born with a certain genetic quirk that lowers their bad cholesterol over their whole life seem to have a lower chance of developing a dangerous belly blood vessel problem called an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Quantitative
People who naturally have a broken PCSK9 gene — which keeps their bad cholesterol low their whole life — are much less likely to get heart disease, and this seems to be true for people of many different backgrounds.
People who had a heart attack and started taking a cholesterol drug called ezetimibe early had fewer heart problems over the next year compared to those who started later or didn’t take it at all.
Out of nearly 36,000 people hospitalized for heart attacks, most didn't get a cholesterol drug called ezetimibe—even though almost all were already on strong statins. Only about 1 in 6 got it early, and a similar number got it later.
Descriptive
If someone has a heart attack and hasn’t taken cholesterol drugs before, waiting more than 12 weeks to start a drug called ezetimibe might increase their risk of future heart problems — though the data isn’t strong enough to be sure.
If you've had a heart attack, starting a cholesterol drug called ezetimibe within 3 months might lower your chance of dying from heart problems over the next 3 years, compared to waiting or not taking it at all.
If someone has a heart attack and starts taking a cholesterol drug called ezetimibe within 3 months, they’re less likely to have another heart problem in the next 3 years compared to those who wait longer or never start it.
For people at very high risk of heart problems, taking a cholesterol drug (statin) with another drug (ezetimibe) is just as safe and easy to stick with as taking the statin alone.
For people at very high risk of heart problems, taking both a statin and ezetimibe might help them live longer than taking just a statin alone.
Taking both a statin and ezetimibe together may help prevent strokes better than taking just a statin, especially in people at very high risk.
For people at very high risk of heart problems, taking a cholesterol drug called ezetimibe along with a statin might lower their chances of serious heart issues more than taking just a statin alone.
For people at very high risk of heart problems, taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins plus another drug called ezetimibe lowers bad cholesterol more than taking statins alone — by about 13 points on average — and helps them hit their cholesterol targets better.
These cholesterol drugs can cut bad cholesterol by half and help prevent heart attacks in people with heart disease, and they’re about as safe as a dummy shot—though some might get a little redness where they’re injected.
Causal
People born with broken PCSK9 genes have very low bad cholesterol and are protected from heart disease, but might have a higher chance of getting type 2 diabetes and gaining weight.
People with heart failure, especially weak pumping, tend to have higher levels of PCSK9 in their blood, and the higher it is, the worse their outlook tends to be.
PCSK9 doesn't just raise bad cholesterol — it also directly worsens artery disease by making immune and blood vessel cells absorb more damaged fats, reducing their ability to clean out cholesterol, and increasing inflammation in the arteries.
PCSK9 might make heart failure worse by causing heart cells to die in different ways when the heart is under stress, and this seems to happen in both animals and people, not just because of cholesterol issues.
Two newer cholesterol drugs, when added to the strongest statins, can cut bad cholesterol by another half — helping high-risk patients get their levels down to what doctors recommend.
One type of cholesterol drug makes the body produce more of a protein called PCSK9, while another type actually reduces it — so they work in opposite ways even though they target the same thing.
Inclisiran is a type of medicine that helps lower bad cholesterol by turning down a protein in the liver. It works longer than some other cholesterol drugs, so you don’t need to take it as often.
These special lab-made antibodies grab onto a protein in your blood that messes with cholesterol cleanup, so your body can get rid of bad cholesterol better and lower your chances of heart problems.
For people with heart disease, adding certain cholesterol-lowering drugs to their usual statin medicine cuts the chance of having a stroke by 23%—and this protection might be even better than for heart attacks.