Cholesterol: Latest Research

Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on July 19, 2023
Written by Stephanie Booth
3 min read

High cholesterol raises your risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. A healthy diet and lifestyle can improve your levels. Medication can help, too. Still, doctors and scientists keep studying cholesterol to see what else they can learn about it.

Here’s some progress they’ve made in the ways they think about, prevent, and treat high cholesterol.

Doctors used to think everyone’s cholesterol level should be about the same. Now, your doctor will look at your numbers along with other risk factors you have for heart disease. Those factors include blood pressure, blood sugar, age, and weight. The higher your risk for heart issues, the lower your doctor may suggest you try to get your cholesterol levels.

If you have high cholesterol and mildly high blood pressure, but you have a low overall risk of heart disease, your doctor may not prescribe medication right away. New guidelines from the American Heart Association advise sitting less and moving more as the first treatment.

Physical activity can reduce LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or “bad”) cholesterol by 3 to 6 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) in your blood. It also lowers your blood pressure.

About 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week is ideal. But you could see a difference in your cholesterol levels with as few as 5 to 10 minutes of movement each day.

Doctors often prescribe statins to treat high cholesterol, but not everyone does well on these drugs. People who don’t respond to this type of medicine, or who have unpleasant side effects, now have some other options, such as:

  • PCSK9 inhibitors: PCSK9 is a protein that your liver makes. The more you have, the harder it is for your body to get rid of LDL cholesterol. A new class of drugs called PCSK9 inhibitors can block PCSK9. That way, it won’t interfere with cholesterol. You can take these medications by themselves or with statins. You get them through a shot, usually about every 2 weeks.

If you have a genetic condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, PCSK9 inhibitors may work better for you than statins do.

  • SiRNA therapy: SiRNA (small interfering RNA) therapy can treat some health conditions by changing how some of your genes work. A new medication called inclisiran (Leqvio) uses this technology to treat adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) or clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) who need additional LDL lowering. It lowers your LDL levels by disrupting the gene that makes PCSK9. Inclisiran comes in the form of shots, taken several months apart. You can use this medication along with other cholesterol-lowering treatments or alone.
  • Bempedoic acid: Like statins, this new medication makes it harder for cholesterol to form in your body. Bempedoic acid, which is a pill you swallow, may lower your LDL levels by up to 15%. For now, you can get a prescription only if you have a family history of high cholesterol or you have atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ACD).

Cholesterol can cause fatty deposits called plaque to form inside your arteries. Over time, it can start to block your blood flow. This condition, called atherosclerosis, raises your risk of heart problems and stroke. Scientists have recently created a nanoparticle -- a tiny object that the naked eye cannot see -- to eat away at this waxy buildup. It’s still in testing mode, but in the future, a drug that contains this nanoparticle could be part of atherosclerosis treatment.

Researchers have thought for some time that gut health plays a role in cholesterol levels, but it hasn’t been clear exactly how. But they now know that probiotics (“good” live bacteria) and prebiotics (which feed useful germs in your gut) can lower LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, another type of blood fat. These gut bacteria may also increase high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or “good”) cholesterol.

Talk to your doctor if you’re interested in trying probiotics or prebiotics. The amount you need in order to get results is still under review, and too much could lead to an upset stomach.