Research
Hormonal
In patients with diabetes, LDL cholesterol concentration is a poor indicator of cardiovascular risk because it masks an increased number of atherogenic lipoprotein particles (high apoB) and the presence of small, dense LDL particles.
Do not rely solely on your LDL cholesterol number to assess your heart health. In diabetes, your blood may contain many more small, dangerous cholesterol particles than a standard test shows. Ask your doctor about measuring ApoB or Non-HDL cholesterol for a more accurate risk assessment, and follow their advice on statin therapy even if your LDL looks 'normal'.
GoodRefutesHIGH confidence
The often 'normal' level of LDL cholesterol seen in many patients with diabetes actually disguises an increased particle number (higher apoB) and that clearance of small dense particles is slower.
Why this rating
Supported by mechanistic explanations and references to studies showing discordance between LDL-C and apoB.
Source
Diabetes Dyslipidemia
Jonathan Schofield et al. · Diabetes Therapy · 2016
DOI 10.1007/s13300-016-0167-x
narrative_reviewCited 405×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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