Stress and High Cholesterol

British researchers studied about 200 middle-aged men and women ad discovered the link between stress and cholesterol levels. All patients underwent standard tests to measure mental stress. They also measured their cholesterol. And a second cholesterol test was given three years later.
The study results showed that those who scored the highest o the stress tests experienced the greatest rise in cholesterol at the follow up exams. Overall, they were three times more likely to have clinically high cholesterol than those who scored the lowest on the stress tests. The findings held true even after researchers adjusted their results to take other factors influencing cholesterol levels into account. The stress cholesterol link was seen equally in men and women. Investigators aren’t sure how mental stress impacts cholesterol levels. But they speculate stress may be promoting the production of more cholesterol, interfering with the clearance of cholesterol from the body.