Low Cholesterol Problems
Filed Under Dr. Zoltan Rona (MD) |
Dear Dr. Rona:I am a 46-year-old healthy father of three and was just told that my cholesterol levels are low. In fact, they are more than 10% lower than the lower limit of normal. When I asked my doctor if this was anything to worry about, he said, “The lower the better.” I suspect this may not be true. Can you comment on this?
Larry
Dear Larry:
Low cholesterol levels can be potentially dangerous. They can be the end of liver problems, heredity or chronic infections somewhere in the body with either viruses or fungi.
Low cholesterol has been linked to a greater risk of cancer and, most recently, depression in men (Psychosomatic Medicine 2000;62). The reasons for this are complex but may be due to the fact that brain levels of serotonin, a substance known to regulate mood, are also reduced when cholesterol levels are low.
In addition, the body uses cholesterol to manufacture vital steroid hormones like pregnenolone, DHEA, testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen. If your cholesterol levels are low, make sure your doctor checks the levels of your steroid hormones and looks deeper into your biochemical makeup.
Dr. Zoltan Rona
