Low - and high - levels of LDL cholesterol may cause cancer in diabetics, a new study has found.
Although scientists don’t understand why it's happening, they have seen that type II diabetics with abnormal cholesterol levels have a dramatically higher risk of developing a range of cancers.
Those with low cholesterol levels were more likely to develop stomach, genital and urinary, lymphatic and blood cancers, and those with high levels were more likely to suffer from oral, digestive, bone, skin, connective tissue and breast cancers.
The risk reduced in both groups if they were treating their cholesterol levels with a statin drug, researchers found.
(Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2008; 179: 427).