Fringe Benefits

Controlling your cholesterol can do much more than simply protect you from heart disease and stroke, A growing body of evidence suggests that what’s good for the heart may also be good for the mind, and that low levels of cholestero! may help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

In one of the strongest studies linking the two, Finnish researchers tracked nearly 1,500 people for an average of 21 years. They found that high cholesterol and blood pressure appeared to increase Alzheimer’s risk even more than the so-called Alzheimer’s gene (apo E-4), often cited as the most important genetic risk factor for the disease.

And when researchers at Case Western Reserve University compare the diets of 96 Alzheimer’s patients to those of healthy patients, they found that those who tended to eat a diet low in fat and high in fish, vegetables, whole grains, and antioxidants like And when researchers at Case Western Reserve University compared the diets of 96 Alzheimer’s patients to those of healthy patients, they found that those who tended to eat a diet low in fat and high in fish, vegetables, whole grains, and antioxidants like vitamins C and E (in other words, the eating plan) reduced their risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Other studies found that people taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs also lowered their risk of developing Alzheimer’s up to 79 percent. Researchers suspect that high levels of cholesterol may lead to brain plaques, clumps of protein that accumulate on nerve cells.