High cholesterol linked to Alzheimer's | Irish Sun

High cholesterol linked to Alzheimer's

Irish Sun (IANS) Monday 12th September, 2011

People with high cholesterol may have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, a study says.

'We found that high cholesterol levels were significantly related to brain plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease,' said study author Kensuke Sasaki, of Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, in a press release.

For the study, the cholesterol levels were tested on 2,587 people, aged 40 to 79, who had no signs of Alzheimer's.

Researchers also examined 147 autopsied people who died after a long observation period (10 to 15 years). Fifty of the demised, or 34 percent, had been diagnosed with dementia before death, Xinhua reported.

The autopsies looked for plaques and tangles in the brain, both known to be trademark signs of Alzheimer's disease. Plaques are an accumulation of a form of the protein amyloid, which occurs between nerve cells. Tangles are an accumulation of a different protein, called tau, which occurs inside nerve cells.

People with high cholesterol levels had significantly more brain plaques when compared to those with normal or lower cholesterol levels. A total of 86 percent of people with high cholesterol had brain plaques, compared with only 62 percent of people with low cholesterol levels.

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