The Worries Of High Cholesterol

Why should you worry about high cholesterol? Because it can kill you. Having cholesterol levels that are too high dramatically increases your risks of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. This is because high cholesterol levels can cause build up along the walls of your arteries, slowing down the flow of blood to where it needs to go.

Cholesterol is needed by your body to build new cells. The waxy substance is also used for other functions, such as producing bile and hormones. However, sometimes the body produces too much. You could also be increasing the amount of cholesterol in your system by the foods you eat. The more fatty foods that you eat, the more likely it is that you will have higher cholesterol levels.

Stress on your body

Having too much cholesterol in your body can also be the result of other health conditions. Therefore, if your blood tests reveal that your cholesterol levels are abnormal, a complete workup may be considered to make sure that there are not other underlying problems. Type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism, kidney disease, and liver disease can all affect your cholesterol levels. Some medications can increase your cholesterol as well. Plus, other stress on your body, such as a high-stress job, can increase your cholesterol levels.

Excessive cholesterol can cause stress on your body for other reasons as well. When you have too much cholesterol in your blood, the excess tends to get deposited along your arteries. With time, these deposits harden into plaque. The plaque then causes your arteries to narrow, forcing your heart to have to work harder to get the blood through to where it needs to go. Left untreated, high cholesterol can continue to line the arteries until it gets to the point that it completely blocks them off, causing a heart attack or stroke.

Blockages caused by cholesterol

Sometimes, the narrowing of the arteries gets to the point where the arteries themselves will start to tear under the stress. The body then produces a clot in an attempt to stop the bleeding. However, if this clot breaks off, it starts floating around in the bloodstream. If it gets to an artery that is already narrowed because of cholesterol, the clot could become lodged in the opening. This prevents all blood from getting through. Depending on where the clot occurs, this could lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Keep in mind that there are two types of cholesterol – HDL and LDL. LDL is the one that tends to line your arteries, and so is the one that most people are concerned about lowering. However, HDL cholesterol plays an important role in removing cholesterol from the heart and taking it to the liver where it can be broken down. Having too low of an HDL cholesterol level can also increase your risk of heart problems.

Every 33 seconds someone dies from a heart attack or stroke caused by high cholesterol. In order to prevent yourself from becoming one of these statistics, you need to get your cholesterol level checked regularly. If yours is higher than optimal levels, ask your doctor what you can do to bring it back down.

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