Cholesterol and Alzheimer's
The New York Academy of Sciences on cholesterol and Alzheimer's disease (AD): "Over the past decade, as cell biologists and biochemists have investigated the complex pathogenesis of AD with new tools in neurochemistry, the metabolic pathways of cholesterol in the brain have generated fruitful and promising research, produced new ideas, and helped to advance old hypotheses. Epidemiologic observations support a relationship between lipid metabolism in the brain and AD, but much work remains to elucidate it and harvest any clinical yield. ... Importantly, the AD-cholesterol link is consonant with the amyloid cascade hypothesis. Although not the only proposed explanation, it is by far the best supported and has generated a preponderance of research. It proposes that AD arises through a chronic and deleterious imbalance between ß-amyloid (Aß) formation and clearance, leading to the accumulation of insoluble plaques and tangles."
Link: http://www.nyas.org/ebriefreps/main.asp?intEBriefID=579