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Cholesterol Lowering Medications

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance that the body needs to function normally. Cholesterol is naturally present in cell membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.

Your body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that assist in digesting fat. The cholesterol in the blood comes from two sources: 1) the foods a person eats, 2) the liver. However, the liver makes enough cholesterol to satisfy the body's needs. It takes only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs. If an individual has too much cholesterol in their bloodstream, the excess may be deposited in arteries, including the coronary (heart) arteries, where it contributes to the narrowing and blockages that cause the signs and symptoms of heart disease.

What causes high cholesterol?

Several drugs and diseases can bring about high cholesterol, but for most people, a high-fat diet, obesity, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or inherited risk factors are the main causes.

Risks of high cholesterol

If a person has too much cholesterol in their bloodstream, the excess may be deposited in arteries, which leads to atherosclerosis (commonly called hardening of the arteries). Atherosclerosis may contribute to:



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Cholesterol Lowering Medications

Chest Pain »

Chest Pain Overview

If you are having severe pain, crushing, squeezing, or pressure in your chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or if the pain moves into your neck, left shoulder, arm, or jaw, go immediately to a hospital emergency department. Do not drive yourself. Call 911 for emergency transport.

Chest pain is one of the most frightening symptoms a person can have. It is sometimes difficult even for a doctor or other medical professional to tell what is causing chest pain and whether it is life-threatening.

  • Any part of the chest can be the cause of the pain including the heart, lungs, esophagus, muscle, bone, and skin.

  • Because of the complex nerve distribution in the body, chest pain may actually originate from another part of the body.

  • The stomach or other organs in the belly (abdomen), for example, can cause chest pain.

Potentially life-threatening causes of c...

Read the Chest Pain article »



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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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