A study at the Houston Methodist Research Institute discovered what makes white blood cell counts spike in individuals who have high cholesterol. This may lead to new therapies for heart disease. Researchers looked at hypercholesterolemia which is the type of high cholesterol that causes very high levels of LDL the so-called 'bad' cholesterol to circulate in the blood. They identified a new regulatory mechanism in zebrafish models responsible for this increase. The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and Nature Reviews Cardiology published this study. Cholesterol is necessary but too much of it can increase your risk of heart diseases.