Cholesterol FAQs
Medical Author:
Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEMDr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Medical Editor:
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhDDr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
What is cholesterol?Cholesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance that is naturally present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body. Your body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat. High cholesterol levels in the blood can cause fatty deposits in blood vessels which cause narrowing and may lead to heart attack, stroke, or peripheral artery disease. What causes high cholesterol?The most common causes of high cholesterol are all related and include a high fat diet, inactivity, and obesity. Less commonly, genetic causes can decrease the ability of the body to metabolize cholesterol or cause the liver to produce too much cholesterol. What are the symptoms of high cholesterol?High cholesterol does not cause symptoms by itself. Instead, it is a risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis or narrowing of arteries in the body that can lead to hear attack, stroke, or peripheral artery disease. Blood tests are used to measure cholesterol levels as part of routine screening for risk factors for heart disease and stroke. |
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Understanding Your Risk for Heart Disease
It is possible to minimize the risk of heart disease, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. High blood cholesterol can lead to coronary artery disease, heart attack, stroke, and peripheral artery disease; keeping cholesterol levels in the normal range can decrease the risk of these diseases.
Lifestyle changes can let you take control of your heart health, and managing your cholesterol level is one such important lifestyle change. Other risk factors that can also be controlled include maintaining normal blood pressure, exercising, keeping your weight within normal limits, quitting smoking, and controlling diabetes and stress.
While one cannot control risk factors like age and family history of heart disease or stroke, it is possible to minimize the other risk factors to live a longer and healthier life.
Knowing your cholesterol number is a good first step in reducing risk. ...
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High HDL Cholesterol (Hyperalphalipoproteinemia) »
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is positively associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).
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