If your doctor has been lecturing you on lowering your cholesterol, you may wonder why your cholesterol level is so important. A high cholesterol level is bad because it can result in heart disease, heart attack or stroke when cholesterol is allowed to build up in your arteries. High cholesterol should be taken very seriously and steps taken to reduce your level.

First, cholesterol is a naturally occurring substance produced by the body. In fact, the body produces all the cholesterol that it needs for normal function. It is when this cholesterol is increased by what you take in through the foods that you eat that levels can become too high. This is especially true when you eat a lot of high fat foods. When the cholesterol levels in your blood rise above the normal levels some of this cholesterol is left behind in your vessels and arteries and can eventually result in a hardened plaque lining inside the vessels.

High cholesterol levels bring on a heart attack in a four step process. First, the lining of the arteries are weakened by the cholesterol. When LDL cholesterol moves out of the bloodstream into the artery walls, it causes them to either constrict or relax. These changes in the artery walls cause the walls to weaken, allowing the cholesterol to penetrate deeper. The changes also cause disruption in blood pressure and blood flow.

Next, the changes in the artery lining cause the body to respond to the changes. The body reacts as it would to an inflammation, sending immune cells called macrophages to the site of the damage. The macrophages try to clear away the LDL cholesterol but only succeed in creating “foamy” cells that make the clogging worse. As more LDL cholesterol is deposited, more macrophages come to the area, and the clogging becomes a deadly cycle.

In a final attempt to clear up what it sees as inflammation, the artery walls create a fibrous material which eventually forms a cap over the damaged area. This is how the plaque forms that doctors say is responsible for clogging your arteries. If this clogging occurs in an artery that feeds the heart muscle, the muscle is denied oxygen and nutrients and the heart muscle is weakened. As more LDL cholesterol and macrophages collect in the area, the plaque cap on the artery thins.

The final step in a heart attack occurs when this ever thinning plaque cap ruptures allowing blood to seep into the artery wall. This causes the body to react by releasing platelets, or clotting factor, to the area. This causes a clot to form in the artery. If this clot forms in a coronary artery, the result is a heart attack.

Research shows that the higher your cholesterol level, the greater your risk for having heart disease. Any cholesterol level higher than 240mg/dL puts you at risk for heart disease. A high cholesterol level combined with cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, and a family history of heart disease can increase your risk even more.

Reducing your high cholesterol level can have dramatic health effects. As well as decreasing your risk for stroke and heart attack, lowering a high cholesterol level can make you a healthier individual altogether.

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