Oh IH, et al. - Among 365,457 participants aged ≥40 years from the Korean National Health Insurance Service–National Sample Cohort, researchers examined the link between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality by using Cox proportional hazard models. They categorized HDL-C level into <1.0, 1.0–1.19, 1.2–1.39, 1.4–1.59, 1.6–1.79 (reference), 1.8–1.99, 2.0–2.19 and ≥2.20 mmol/L. They reported the death of 9,350 participants (2.6%) during a median 3.5-year follow-up. The lowest age-standardized mortality rates for all-cause death were reported among men with HDL-C level of 1.6–1.79 mmol/L and women with HDL-C level of 1.4–1.59 mmol/L. According to findings, increased risk of all-cause death was observed in association with very high HDL-C level among South Korean adults. Mortality risk from external causes was partly responsible for the increased all-cause mortality risk observed in people with very high HDL-C level.