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No More Dieting For the Elderly?

Elderly people may suffer badly from being told to lose weight and reduce their cholesterol levels.

A person over the age of 70 is 35 % less likely to die if they have high cholesterol levels than if they have low levels, according to a report in the Lancet. The conclusions come from a study of 3.500 Americans of Japanese origin in Hawaii. The men were aged between 71 and 93.

As well as measuring cholesterol levels, the research measured how they had changed over a 20-year period and found that on average they fell with increasing age. One possible explanation is that falling cholesterol levels are sign of illnesses of old age. Researcher Dr. Irwin Schatz said: "Our data accord with previous findings of increased mortality in elderly with low cholesterol, and show, for the first time, that long-term persistence of low cholesterol concentration actually increases risk of death. "These data cast doubt on the scientific justification for lowering cholesterol to very low in elderly people."