About Cholesterol and Heart Disease
Heart disease is the number one health problem in the United States. 80% of people who had had a heart attack high cholesterol, a risk factor for developing heart disease. If you have high cholesterol, may be under increased risk of heart disease *. If you have high cholesterol and other risk factors, may have more than 6 times the risk of heart disease than an average man to . Remember, the more risk factors you have, the greater your risk of heart attack or stroke.
Unfortunately, you may not know you have high cholesterol. People with high cholesterol often have no symptoms. So if you do not know their cholesterol levels, now is the time that your doctor check your cholesterol.
Your total cholesterol is important, but the guidelines suggest that you focus on your level of LDL (“bad” cholesterol) to control high cholesterol.
Having high LDL “bad” means that you have much LDL cholesterol in the blood. LDL is low-density lipoprotein or “bad” cholesterol. LDL cholesterol can build up in your arteries and prevent blood from reaching his heart. HDL cholesterol is “good.” Get the LDL cholesterol from the walls of your arteries.
When you have high cholesterol, a thick plaque accumulates on the walls of the arteries. When plaque builds up, the arteries narrow and become less flexible, which reduces blood flow. If a blood clot to form and reach the artery becomes blocked, you could suffer a heart attack or stroke.