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 Can Low Cholesterol Cause Stomach Cancer? Preliminary Evidence Provides a Link between Low Cholesterol and Stomach Cancer
Although high cholesterol levels have been tied to causing heart disease, reports have found that low cholesterol could also be a problem. Findings published in the International Journal of Cancer indicate that low cholesterol may raise your risk of stomach cancer.
Although stomach cancer is rare, a family history of stomach cancer, history of peptic ulcer disease, or an H. pylori infection are risk factors for getting stomach cancer. A new study suggests that low cholesterol may also play a role in stomach cancer.
About 2,000 participants in Japan were followed over a 14-year period. They examined individuals with a history of H. pylori infection, a family history of gastric cancer, a history of peptic ulcer disease, and smoking. The researchers found that the lower one’s cholesterol was, the more they are at risk for stomach cancer. In fact, at the conclusion of the study, it was found that 97 people, or 5% of the participants of the study, had stomach cancer. The incidence of stomach cancer in Japan is about 10 times higher than in other parts of the world. Japanese have very low cholesterol levels in comparison with other countries.
Should I Worry?
While this is one study, other reports suggest that while low cholesterol levels may be beneficial for the heart, other organs, like the brain, may need a little more cholesterol to function. The balance between cholesterol good health and cholesterol appears to be delicate. However, there isn’t much else known about it.
More studies are needed to establish whether or not having your cholesterol too low can cause health problems. While the relationship between low cholesterol and stomach cancer has not been fully established, the connection between high cholesterol and heart disease has been known for a long time.
Too much of a good thing does not mean that it is good! Even though we all need water, if you drink too much you can actually imbalance your electrolytes and even die! Just because water is healthful, it doesn’t mean that more and more and more is better. In this case, cholesterol is a necessary chemical that is made by the liver to life sustaining vitamins, hormones, and cell membranes.
Too much cholesterol and the bad lipoprotein LDL can certainly create problems for cardiovascular tissues. Too little cholesterol can deplete your sex hormones, your stress hormones, and your brain hormones. Too little cholesterol can affect brain and nerve function. Too little cholesterol can cause deficiencies in life sustaining vitamins like vitamin D. Too little cholesterol is now showing to put you at risk for cancer.
In the clinic I generally like to see adult cholesterol levels between 160 and 220 with the LDL or bad cholesterol below 120.
If cholesterol levels fall too low, consider increasing foods that improve liver function which will improve cholesterol manufacturing and clearance. I suggest my patients to take some form of liver support with dandelion root, milk thistle, artichoke, and barberry. I also recommend using lecithin and magnesium sulfate to improve bile flow. Although eating eggs daily did not show to elevate cholesterol, I recommend them in low cholesterol cases because they are high in natural lecithin which can balance cholesterol.
Be well!
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