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Home : Your Physical Health : So You Have High Blood Cholesterol...
So You Have High Blood Cholesterol...
From the National Institutes of Health
(Please note: the advice contained in this article is for adults.)
A high blood cholesterol level means that you have more cholesterol in your bloodstream than your body needs. The higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk or chance of developing coronary heart diseasethe most common form of heart disease. Anyone can develop high blood cholesterol, no matter what
his or her age, gender, race, or ethnic background. In fact, 52 million American adults now have a blood cholesterol level high enough to need medical advice to help lower it. High blood cholesterol has no warning signs. So, you may be surprised to learn that you have it. dont be alarmed, but do take it seriously. You can lower high blood cholesterol and bring down your risk of heart disease.
Lowering your high blood cholesterol is very important: If you already have heart disease, you can reduce your risk of future problems; if you dont have heart disease, you can cut your risk of ever developing it.
Cholesterol and Your Risk
of Heart Disease
Cholesterol is a waxy
substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body
needs cholesterol, which it uses to make many hormones and vitamin D.
Cholesterol is also involved in producing bile acids, which help the
body process the fats you eat. Your body produces enough cholesterol to
meet its needs.
How High
Blood Cholesterol Leads to Heart Disease
When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, the excess can
become trapped in the walls of your arteries. By building up there,
the cholesterol helps to cause hardening of the arteries or
atherosclerosis. And atherosclerosis causes most heart attacks. How?
The cholesterol buildup narrows the arteries that supply blood to the
heart, slowing or even blocking the flow of blood to the heart. So,
the heart gets less oxygen than it needs. This weakens the heart
muscle, and chest pain (angina) may occur. If a blood clot forms in
the narrowed artery, a heart attack (myocardial infarction) or even
death can result.
Cholesterol buildup happens very slowly - you are not even aware of
it. If you lower your high blood cholesterol level, you can slow,
stop, or even reverse the buildup - and lower your risk of illness or
death from heart disease.
| Normal Artery Wall ---> |
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<--- Abnormal narrowed artery opening |
"Good"
and "Bad" Cholesterol: The Lipoproteins
Cholesterol travels in the blood in packages called lipoproteins.
Just like oil and water, cholesterol and blood do not mix. So, in
order to be able to travel in the bloodstream, the cholesterol made in
the liver is also coated with a layer of protein making a lipoprotein.
This lipoprotein then carries the cholesterol through the bloodstream.
Two types of lipoprotein affect your risk of heart disease.
-
Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs): the bad cholesterol. LDLs carry
most of the cholesterol in the blood, and the cholesterol and fat from
LDLs are the main source of dangerous buildup and blockage in the
arteries. Thus, the more LDL-cholesterol you have in your blood, the
greater your risk of heart disease.
-
High-density lipoproteins (HDLs): the good cholesterol. HDLs
carry some of the cholesterol in the blood, but this cholesterol goes
back to the liver, which leads to its removal from the body. So HDLs
help keep cholesterol from building up in the walls of the arteries.
If your level of good cholesterol is low, your risk of heart disease
is greater.
What Makes
Blood Cholesterol High or Low
Why do some people have too much cholesterol in their blood? Many
factors help determine whether your blood cholesterol level is high or
low. The following factors are the most important:
Heredity. Your genes partly determine the amount of
cholesterol your body makes, and high blood cholesterol can run in
families.
Diet. Two nutrients in the foods you eat make your blood
cholesterol level go up: saturated fat, a type of fat found
mostly in foods that come from animals; and cholesterol, which
comes only from animal products. Saturated fat raises your cholesterol
level more than anything else in the diet. Reducing the amounts of
saturated fat and cholesterol you at is an important
step in reducing your blood cholesterol levels.
Weight. Excess weight tens to increase your blood
cholesterol level. If you are overweight and have a high blood
cholesterol, losing weight may help you lower it.
Physical activity/exercise. Regular physical activity may
help to lower LDL-cholesterol and raise HDL-cholesterol levels.
Age and sex. Before menopause, women have total cholesterol
levels that are lower than those of men the same age. Pregnancy raises
blood cholesterol levels in many women, but blood cholesterol levels
should return to normal about 20 weeks after delivery. As women and
men get older, their blood cholesterol levels rise. In women,
menopause often causes an increase in their LDL-cholesterol level.
Some women may benefit from taking estrogen after menopause, because
estrogen lowers LDLs and raises HDLs.
Alcohol. Alcohol intake increases
HDL-cholesterol. However, doctors dont know whether it also reduces
the risk of heart disease. Drinking too much alcohol can certainly
damage and liver and heart muscle and cause other health problems.
Because of these risks, you should not drink alcoholic beverages to
prevent heart disease.
Stress. Stress over the long term has not been
shown to raise blood cholesterol levels. The real problem with stress
may be how it affects your habits. For example, when some people are
under stress, they console themselves by eating fatty foods. The
saturated fat and cholesterol in these foods probably cause higher
blood cholesterol, not the stress itself.
Other Risk Factors for
Heart Disease
In addition to a high LDL-cholesterol level and a low HDL-
cholesterol level, other factors also increase your chance of heart
disease. The chart below lists these risk factors. The more of them you
have, the higher your chance of developing heart disease. If you have
any of these risk factors in addition to your high blood cholesterol,
your risk of heart disease is even greater.
In addition to the risk factors on the chart, another factor that
influences your risk of heart disease is where your body stores excess
fat. If you have an apple-shaped body with most of your fat around the
stomach, you are at a greater risk of heart disease than if your body
is pear-shaped, with most of your fat around your hips. Generally, men
carry their fat around the stomach, while women carry it on the hips
and thighs.
Risk
Factors for Heart Disease
Factors
You Can
Do Something About |
Factors
You
Cannot Control |
Cigarette smoking
High blood cholesterol (high total cholesterol
and high LDL-cholesterol)
Low HDL-cholesterol
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Obesity
Physical inactivity
|
Age:
- 45 years or older for men
- 55 years or older for women
Family history of early heart disease
- (heart attack or sudden death):
- Father or brother stricken before the age of 55
- Mother or sister stricken before the age of 65
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Talk to your doctor about all of your risk factors and what you
can do to reduce your chance of heart disease. Often, the actions you
take to control one risk factor help reduce others as well. For example,
losing weight helps to reduce your blood cholesterol levels and high
blood pressure, and helps to control diabetes. Regular physical activity
can help you lose weight as well as improve the fitness of your heart
and lungs, which also can help lower your risk of heart disease.
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