What is Cholesterol ?
Cholesterol (ko-LES-te-rol)
A fat-like substance that is made by the body and is found
naturally in animal foods such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs,
and dairy products. Foods high in cholesterol include
liver and organ meats, egg yolks, and dairy fats. Cholesterol
is carried in the blood. When cholesterol levels are
too high, some of the cholesterol is deposited on the
walls of the blood vessels. Over time, the deposits can build
up causing the blood vessels to narrow and blood flow to decrease.
The cholesterol in food, like saturated fat, tends
to raise blood cholesterol, which increases the risk
for heart disease. Total blood cholesterol levels above
240 mg/dl are considered high. Levels between 200-239 mg/dl
are considered borderline high. Levels under 200 mg/dl are
considered desirable.
Why
Is Cholesterol Important?
Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances
of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol
is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. A risk
factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting
a disease. In fact, the higher your blood cholesterol level,
the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having
a heart attack. Heart disease is the number one killer of
women and men in the United States. Each year, more than a
million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million
people die from heart disease.
How Does Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease?
When there is too much cholesterol (a fat-like
substance) in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your
arteries. Over time, this buildup causes "hardening of
the arteries" so that arteries become narrowed and blood
flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked. The blood carries
oxygen to the heart, and if enough blood and oxygen cannot
reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood
supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by
a blockage, the result is a heart attack.
High blood cholesterol itself does not cause
symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol
level is too high. It is important to find out what your cholesterol
numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too
high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces
the chance of a heart attack or dying of heart disease, even
if you already have it. Cholesterol lowering
is important for everyone--younger, middle age, and older
adults; women and men; and people with or without heart disease.
Common typos:
cholesterl, colesterol, chlesterol, choesterol, cholsterol,
choleterol, choleserol, chorestorol, chorestelol, choelsterol,
cholestelol, choelstelol, choresterol, choresturol, cholesterlo,
cholesteorl, cholestreol, cholesetrol, choletserol, cholseterol,
chloesterol, cohlesterol, hcolesterol, cholestero, holesterol,
cholestorol, choelstorol, cholesturol, choelsturol, cholestrol,
cholesteol,
| niddk.nih.gov
| nhlbi.nih.gov
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