I didn't see "hostility" in any of the citations.  Also, my interpretation
from the small quote you offered would be consistent with an anger and
indignation at the realization that they are affected by what they had
perceived as an old person's disease - also anger at being forced to come to
terms with their mortality.  Further, and I am not implying that any of the
people in this sample fall into this category, many people who used certain
illegal drugs in their youth died of sudden cardiac death in their late 20's
and 30's - again, these illicit drug users could have a level of anger -
both causing the drug use and resulting from the drug use - not seen in the
general population.

The terminology used by the medical researchers in association with low
cholesterol was (and these are direct quotes from the conclusions of the
abstracts of the published medical journal articles, not my words):

?        The authors concluded that, among
non-African-American children, low total cholesterol is associated with
school suspension or expulsion and that low total cholesterol may be a risk
factor for aggression or a risk marker for other biologic variables that
predispose to aggression.

?        A significant increase in SERT (Serotonin transporter) activity was
detected only during the first month of simvastatin therapy. This finding
suggests that within this period some patients could be vulnerable to
depression, violence, or suicide.

?        This paper reviews early biological risk factors for violence.
These factors include . low cholesterol. A biopsychosocial violence mode is
proposed.

?        The results suggest that total cholesterol level may be a useful
biological marker for the risk of suicide in depression patients.

?        The results indicated that medication-free schizophrenic patients
have statistically significant lower serum cholesterol and leptin levels
compared with controls and the difference is obvious in suicide attempters
compared with non-suicide attempters and in violent attempters than
non-violent attempters.

?        Patients with a violent suicidal attempt have significantly lower
cholesterol levels than patients with non-violent attempts and the control
subjects. Our findings suggest that suicide attempts should not be
considered a homogeneous group. They are consistent with the theory that low
levels of cholesterol are associated with increased tendency for impulsive
behavior and aggression and contribute to a more violent pattern of suicidal
behavior.

?        . The TC (low total serum cholesterol) level seems to be a
peripheral marker with prognostic value among boys with conduct disorder and
antisocial male offenders.

?        Our results confirm previous reports of lower serum cholesterol in
attempted suicide. They are also indicative of an increased noradrenaline
turnover in subjects who attempt suicide, at least within 24 hours after the
attempt. Whether this activation precedes or follows the attempt because of
the specific stress, can not be answered at present.

?        Low cholesterol may effect serotonergic neuronal activity and some
types of 5-HT receptors, then may be related to violent behavior during
sleep.

?        These findings are consistent with the cholesterol-serotonin
hypothesis and with the substantive literature linking both aggression and
depression to depressed central serotonergic activity.

?        Adjusting for other factors, low cholesterol is associated with
increased subsequent criminal violence.

?        These findings suggest the possibility that serum cholesterol
levels may be positively associated with serotonergic receptor function. The
existence of such an association may provide an explanation for reported
increases in depression, suicide and violence in individuals with low or
lowered cholesterol.

?        Our results showed that low serum cholesterol level is associated
with the violence of the suicide attempt and not with the suicide attempt
itself. Further investigations are necessary to determine the usefulness of
this easily accessible parameter as a potential risk indicator for violent
acts such as violent suicidal behavior in susceptible individuals.

?        Men with a lower cholesterol level (< or =4.5 mmol/liter) have a
higher prevalence of depressive symptoms than those with a cholesterol level
between 6 and 7 mmol/liter. These data may be important in the ongoing
debate on the putative association between low cholesterol levels and
violent death.

http://tinyurl.com/6jqh3

"The investigators found that the rate of hostility symptoms was more than
three times higher in young patients, compared with elderly people with
CAD. Young heart patients with signs of hostility tended to have higher
cholesterol compared with young patients with few signs of hostility."

Sharon, shouldn't it have been LOWER?

L.