As we’ve been saying for many years, ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol—targeted by statin drugs—is good for you as you get older. In fact, higher levels help you live longer once you reach the age of 60, a new study has discovered.

The over-60s who have the highest levels of LDL cholesterol are less likely to develop fatal diseases, such as cancer, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems—and heart disease, the very thing it’s supposed to cause.

The trick is to look at the particle size and lipid fractions of cholesterol if you are going to target it. The total doesn’t tell you much, even though that’s what your doctors make their statin-prescribing decisions on most of the time. Have a look here for proper lipid testing:

Specific Health Condition Tests Overview

Follow the links to the cardio tests mentioned to read much more about cholesterol and cardiovascular testing; it’s a LOT more complicated than the total LDL cholesterol, but you try to get that message across to the hundreds who ask me about cholesterol every year!

Nowadays, I also refer them to my Cholesterol Factsheet.