The scientists from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in America used data from the Framingham Heart Study, a huge study involving residents in a Massachusetts town, to see whether cholesterol was implicated in heart failure.

They were prompted to do so by numerous clinical trials into the high cholesterol  treatment statins, such as the Jupiter trial for Crestor, which indicated that cholesterol reduction lowered the risk of heart failure. The trials were not conclusive, with some scientists arguing that the decrease in heart failure was a result of less people experiencing heart attacks after using statin-based cholesterol treatments.

The team identified 6,860 who took part in the study who did not have heart disease when they originally enrolled. The average participant age at the start was 44 and just over half of the group were women.

During the 26-year period the volunteers were monitored for, 680 of the participants developed heart failure. Of those people,  13.8% of them had high levels of the ‘bad’ cholesterol LdL, compared to 7.8% who had low cholesterol levels.

The team adjusted the results to take into account age, sex, body weight and risk factors for heart disease like smoking, diet and other health conditions. They discovered that those with high levels of LdL were 29% more likely to experience heart failure.

Conversely, those with high levels of HdL, considered to be a ‘good’ cholesterol, saw their risk of heart disease decrease by 40%.

The findings support data from recent clinical trials into Crestor, which strongly suggested that taking cholesterol-lowering statins improved mortality rates for heart failure.

However the lead scientist on the study Dr. Daniel Levy warned that as the research was not a clinical trial, physicians should not change how they prescribe statins. He added that as well as statins, cholesterol levels could be improved through measures like increased physical activity, stopping smoking, reducing alcohol consumption and following a diet high in monosaturated fat.