Wall Street Journal - Decoding a new disease culprit

Cholesterol has long been in scientists' sights, particularly when it comes to the link between high levels and heart disease. Now, researchers are looking at substances created when the body breaks down cholesterol. Known as oxysterols, these molecules may contribute to illnesses as varied as Alzheimer's disease and osteoporosis…

Researchers are studying various drugs that might target oxysterols, though they caution that they still don't know whether changing their levels will affect disease.

"We don't know the net effect of manipulating the oxysterols," says Hyman Schipper, professor of neurology and medicine at McGill University and Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, whose lab has found links between Alzheimer's disease and oxysterols.