I believe hardening of the arteries is caused by free radicals and inflammation rather then cholesterol.
Inflammation is a major but often overlooked or understated factor in many malfunctions of the body (and the mind), especially chronic ones. Genetic predisposition could be a magnifying factor but could also be only a psychosomatic factor in developing of disease or its symptoms.
It’s interesting also that the focus was slightly shifted from “cholesterol” to “cholesterol and fats”.
Really? Which fats? Many fats are quite pro-inflammatory, some have a hard time with heat and cooking.
Heck, I eat fats. Store nearby has a wonderful antipasta bar - all kinds of Greek olives, dried sauteed peppers, feta cheese...
Any “American” style diet (which is high in fats) is very high in processed foods that have had nutrients and components stripped.
I still maintain it is not a simple correlation between level of cholesterol and risk. And in fact that seems to be verified by the numbers that show just about half the people who die from sudden cariac events have normal or even less than normal cholesterol levels.