Your Brain Needs Cholesterol Biology

• Neuronal membranes
• Myelin and nerve insulation
• Brain structure
• Nervous-system function

Brain cholesterol metabolism is largely distinct from circulating blood cholesterol. The brain synthesizes much of its own cholesterol; blood cholesterol does not simply flow into brain tissue to supply it.

Cholesterol, aging, cognitive function and dementia have been studied together, but the relationship is complicated. Midlife risk associations and late-life associations can differ. Illness, nutrition, vascular disease and changes preceding dementia can affect blood measurements.

THE BRAIN-CHOLESTEROL RELATIONSHIP IS NOT “LOWER IS ALWAYS BETTER.”

Necessary brain cholesterol biology does not prove that raising blood LDL improves cognition or that prescribed lipid-lowering treatment causes dementia. Physiological roles, observational findings and treatment evidence are different kinds of evidence.