A recent study revealed that high levels of “good cholesterol,” also called HDL-C, might increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in women after menopause.
This is surprising because HDL-C is usually thought to protect our health. The research was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
The study was led by scientists from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health and they found that after women go through menopause, the quality of their HDL cholesterol may become more important than the amount.
As women age, the quality of these HDL particles goes down, which may affect brain health.
HDL particles come in different sizes and types, and they don’t all work the same way. The researchers studied blood samples from 503 women who took part in a long-term health study.
They found that over time, women had more large HDL particles in their blood, but these large particles didn’t work as well as the smaller ones.
Between the years 2000 and 2016, the researchers tested the women’s memory and thinking skills regularly. They discovered that women who had more small HDL particles, especially those that had a lot of phospholipids (a type of healthy fat), did better on memory tests as they got older. Phospholipids help keep brain cells healthy.
Dr. Samar El Khoudary, the lead researcher and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said this is important because memory loss is one of the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
However, earlier research by the same team found that healthy habits can make HDL particles work better. These habits include regular exercise, staying at a healthy weight, eating well, and not smoking.
This means that even if a person has high levels of HDL, following a healthy lifestyle could still improve how well these particles work—and that could help protect the brain, not just the heart.
