Researchers found that people with high levels of LDL cholesterol were less likely to die prematurely from other diseases

There is no link between high cholesterol and heart disease in people over 60, a major study has found.

Health officials are accused of fear-mongering as a comprehensive analysis reveals that older people with high levels of “bad” cholesterol actually live longer.

Heart specialists have called for NHS guidelines to be overhauled completely. They question whether the millions of people in Britain who are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs are being wrongly medicated.

“The truth has always been out there: that the cholesterol hypothesis is wrong,” Malcolm Kendrick, a GP and co-author of the study, said.

“What we found in our detailed systematic review was that older people with high LDL levels — the so-called ‘bad’ cholesterol — lived longer and had less heart disease. Many of