Treating 'bad' cholesterol has inconsistent health effects

An analysis of 35 clinical trials found that treatment to reduce LDL cholesterol did not lower the risk of death in over three-quarters of the trials, neither did it lower the risk of heart disease in nearly half of the trials. — TNS

Setting targets for “bad” (low density lipoprotein, LDL) cholesterol levels to ward off heart disease and death in those at risk might seem intuitive.

But decades of research have failed to show any consistent benefit for this approach, reveals an analysis of the available data, published online in the BMJ Evidence Based Medicine journal.