What happens if your body naturally lowers bad cholesterol?
PCSK9 loss of function is protective against extra-coronary atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease in a large multi-ethnic cohort
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
PCSK9 gene changes reduce dementia risk
Cholesterol-lowering drugs weren’t thought to affect brain health directly — this suggests vascular health is key to preventing cognitive decline.
Practical Takeaways
Talk to your doctor about your cholesterol levels, especially if you have a family history of heart disease or dementia.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
PCSK9 gene changes reduce dementia risk
Cholesterol-lowering drugs weren’t thought to affect brain health directly — this suggests vascular health is key to preventing cognitive decline.
Practical Takeaways
Talk to your doctor about your cholesterol levels, especially if you have a family history of heart disease or dementia.
Publication
Journal
PLoS ONE
Year
2020
Authors
Aeron M. Small, J. Huffman, D. Klarin, J. Lynch, T. Assimes, S. Duvall, Yan V. Sun, Labiba Shere, P. Natarajan, M. Gaziano, D. Rader, P. Wilson, P. Tsao, Kyong‐Mi Chang, Kelly Cho, C. O’Donnell, J. Casas, S. Damrauer
Related Content
Claims (6)
People with certain genetic changes that turn down a protein called PCSK9 tend to have lower 'bad' cholesterol their whole lives and are much less likely to get heart disease.
People who naturally have lower activity of a protein called PCSK9 don’t seem to have a higher chance of getting type 2 diabetes — which means drugs that target PCSK9 might not increase diabetes risk like some earlier studies worried they would.
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 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.
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.