Normally we always check the cholesterol level and do you know what is cholesterol. A naturally occurring fatty chemical called cholesterol is an important part of the outer lining (membrane) of cells in the body. Humans need a small amount of it to maintain healthy nerve cells and to produce certain hormones.
Liver produced most of the cholesterol which is carried in the bloodstream to the body’s cells by special proteins called lipoproteins.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) are the two major lipoproteins.
You also get cholesterol in your diet mainly in foods that come from animals. These include meat, poultry, fish and dairy products. Foods of plant origin have no cholesterol.
LDL is the major carrier of cholesterol in the blood. LDL is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol. HDL also carries cholesterol and is sometimes referred to as “good” cholesterol.
LDL deposits cholesterol in the artery walls, causing the formation of a cholesterol plaque which is hard and thick.
Over time, the cholesterol plaque causes thickening of the artery walls and narrowing of the arteries. This is a disease process called atherosclerosis.
HDL tends to do the opposite: it also carries cholesterol in the blood stream, but acts to remove excess cholesterol.
The main causes of high cholesterol are eating foods that have a lot of saturated fat or cholesterol in them or from an inherited tendency to handle cholesterol abnormally. Finally high cholesterol can occur in some people with other diseases like disorders of the liver, kidney, diabetes and an under-active thyroid.
Doctors know that lowering cholesterol levels reduces the risk of illness or death from heart disease. If you already have heart disease then lowering cholesterol will probably help you live longer. Blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscles are called coronary arteries.
High LDL cholesterol is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease because it causes damage to and narrowing of the arteries.
When coronary arteries are narrowed by atherosclerosis, they may be incapable of supplying enough blood and oxygen to the heart muscle during exertion.
Lack of oxygen (called ischaemia) to the heart muscle causes chest pain.
There is a greater chance of a blood clot forming on the surface of the fatty deposit in the artery. This may cause complete blockage of the artery, leading to death of heart muscle (heart attack) in the affected area.
It is interesting that HDL cholesterol is sometimes called “good” cholesterol, because it helps to remove cholesterol from the blood and in so doing, may help to clear cholesterol plaque from the arteries.
The risk from high cholesterol is increased if other ‘risk factors’ are also present like high blood pressure and smoking, because these interact with each other.
