Low cholesterol death risk is tied to nutrition and immune health
In an observational study of 310,160 adults followed for a median 13.5 years, death risks linked to low cholesterol lessened in people with better nutritional and immune health.
Limit: Underlying malnutrition and inflammation could explain the low-cholesterol mortality link
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Researchers tracked 310,160 adults with a median age of 56.1 years and no baseline cardiovascular disease in an observational cohort study using UK Biobank data. Over a median follow-up of 13.5 years, 21,899 participants died, including 3,831 from cardiovascular disease and 18,068 from other causes. The researchers assessed low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, a blood fat, alongside the prognostic nutritional index, a score of nutritional and immune status.
Lower nutritional-immune scores were associated with higher risks of all mortality outcomes. Lower cholesterol was linked to higher all-cause and non-cardiovascular mortality, while higher cholesterol was associated with higher cardiovascular mortality. All-cause death risk was greatest among participants with both low cholesterol and low nutritional-immune scores. In the highest nutritional-immune group, this excess risk was smaller, and the range of likely values included no difference. Cardiovascular mortality risk was highest among participants with low nutritional-immune scores and high cholesterol.
Why it matters
For understanding survival, the findings suggest interpreting cholesterol-related risk alongside nutritional and immune status in people without cardiovascular disease.
Caveats
As an observational cohort study presented in a conference abstract, the analysis cannot establish cause and effect. The study excluded people with preexisting cardiovascular disease, so its findings may not apply to them.
The paper
Tianjin Medical University General Hospital
ESC Congress 2026 Abstract, Oct 26, 2026
Presented at ESC Congress 2026
