with Dr Aseem Malhotra
The association was strong if your total cholesterol was above 10. Now, I rarely see any patients that are anywhere near close to that and we now know that is linked to a genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolaemia.
This is a genetic condition where people have got very high cholesterol levels. And that affects about 1 in 250 people. But interestingly, on that another thing that is misunderstood lots of our total cholesterol, generally is genetically determined anyway probably about 80% of it. We can't influence it by diet slightly.
The other side, people with very low cholesterol levels, lets say 3.8 total cholesterol genetically have almost no heart disease or less heart disease. But for most of the population in the middle, 90% plus your total cholesterol did not determine who was going to get heart disease and who wasn't.
This is a genetic condition where people have got very high cholesterol levels. And that affects about 1 in 250 people. But interestingly, on that another thing that is misunderstood lots of our total cholesterol, generally is genetically determined anyway probably about 80% of it. We can't influence it by diet slightly.
The other side, people with very low cholesterol levels, lets say 3.8 total cholesterol genetically have almost no heart disease or less heart disease. But for most of the population in the middle, 90% plus your total cholesterol did not determine who was going to get heart disease and who wasn't.