We all know lowering cholesterol is good for the health of our heart, reducing the risk of developing heart disease or experiencing a stroke. Now scientists believe lower cholesterol could also reduce a person’s chances of developing certain cancers.
According to one of the studies published this week in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention low cholesterol is associated with a 60% reduced risk of developing the most aggressive form of prostate cancer.
5,586 men aged 55 or over were studied as part of a large cancer prevention study begun in the 1990s. They discovered that there was a “striking reduction in risk”, as the accompanying editorial put it, of developing the aggressive form of the cancer.
A second study was also published which showed that high levels of the ‘good’ cholesterol HDL could protect against liver, lung and other cancers.
Average levels of HDL cholesterol are about 50mg/dL on average for men, but in the first study it was shown that those men with HDL cholesterol above 55 were 11% less likely to develop cancer. This result was based on data taken from 29,000 Finnish male smokers over an 18-year-period.
While the scientific world is excited about the results, it has been agreed that more work needs to be done to get clearer answers about the relationship between cholesterol and cancer. Previous reports have suggested that statins can reduce cancer rates, but again there are no definitive answers about this.