A new review of the literature suggests that reducing elevated cholesterol concentrations may be even more important for the elderly than for younger age groups. One of the reasons for inconsistency in the research is the three different methods for expressing risk. No matter what the treatment or blood cholesterol level, absolute risk in the elderly is higher than at younger age groups.
Coronary atherosclerosis is cumulative with age, period.
This can complicate interpretation of other risk measures. Relative risk is the ratio of risk of coronary heart disease in persons with high cholesterol levels compared to low cholesterol levels. Relative risk does not take into account the higher background level of heart disease among older adults. Thus, research showing that low serum cholesterol does not have as big a benefit for the elderly as it does for middle-aged and younger adults has often been misinterpreted to mean it's not worth doing anything if you're over 65. In fact, the studies do show a reduced risk of heart disease in older adults with lower serum cholesterol levels.