Is High Cholesterol Really Bad for You? It Depends

The relationship between cholesterol and heart disease is more complex than commonly believed.
Is High Cholesterol Really Bad for You? It Depends
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Being told that you have high cholesterol can feel like a verdict: Start taking a statin or risk a heart attack or stroke.

However, recent studies suggest that high cholesterol is not as uniformly harmful as once thought. Still, the message has swung hard in the other direction on social media, where claims range from “high cholesterol might save your life” to “high cholesterol is the secret to living to 100-plus.”

Kimberly Drake
Kimberly Drake
Author
Kimberly Drake is a health journalist and newspaper columnist with a decade of experience covering health and wellness topics. Her work has appeared in Healthline, Medical News Today, and other online and print publications. She also serves as governance board vice president for two charter schools for autistic students.