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Heart Disease --
Heart disease from high cholesterol levels can lead to a heart attack, which occurs when blood flow is blocked, often by a blood clot, while strokes are caused either by blocked or burst blood vessels in the brain. Cholesterol related Heart disease s include a range of other conditions, including heart failure, when blood is not pumped properly around the body, and congenital heart defects can also cause long term problems, and even death, for sufferers. |
Cholesterol home testing kit FDA approved $14.99
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Heart Disease
The heart pumps blood around the body carrying oxygen and other nutrients to the areas that need it. When this process is interrupted, or does not work properly, serious illness and even death can result.
The risk of is greater for people with poor diet, who smoke and do not exercise, and men are more likely to suffer from it than women.
A range of tests and treatments, including drugs, heart bypass surgery and transplants, exist to alleviate symptoms or save the lives of sufferers.
Cholesterol And Heart Disease
The Framingham Heart Study established that high blood cholesterol is a risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD) |
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Results of the Framingham study showed that the higher the cholesterol level, the greater the CHD risk. On the other end of the spectrum, CHD is uncommon at total cholesterol levels below 150 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). A direct link between high blood cholesterol and CHD has been confirmed by the Lipid Research Clinics-Coronary Primary Prevention Trial (1984) which showed that lowering total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels significantly reduces CHD. A series of more recent trials of cholesterol lowering using statin drugs have demonstrated conclusively that lowering total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol reduces the chance of having a heart attack, needing bypass surgery or angioplasty, and dying of CHD-related causes.
Risk Factors
In addition to high cholesterol, there are other risk factors that can increase your chance of developing heart disease. Some risk factors can be changed and others cannot. In general, the more risk factors you have, the greater your chance of developing the problem. Fortunately, there are things you can do to address most of the risk factors.
The risk factors that you cannot control include:
- Age (45 years or older for men; 55 years or older for women)
- Family history (father or brother affected before age 55; mother or sister affected before age 65)
The known risk factors that you can do something about include:
- High blood cholesterol (high total cholesterol and high LDL ("bad") cholesterol)
- Low HDL ("good") cholesterol
- Smoking
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes -- if you have diabetes, your risk for developing this disease is high. You will need to lower your cholesterol under medical supervision, in order to reduce your high risk.
- Obesity/overweight
- Physical inactivity
If you have not had your cholesterol level checked, talk to your doctor about getting it checked.
Heart Disease Symptoms
- The most devastating sign is abrupt, unexpected cardiac arrest.
- Cardiac arrest commonly occurs in people who have had previous heart attacks, but it may occur as the first symptom.
- Most people exhibit some symptom or discomfort.
- Symptoms usually occur during exercise or activity because the heart muscle's increased demand for nutrients and oxygen is not being met by the blocked coronary blood vessel.
More common symptoms include the following. No one person usually has all of these symptoms. |
- Chest pain on exertion (angina pectoris), which may be relieved by rest
- Shortness of breath on exertion
- Jaw pain, back pain, or arm pain, especially on left side, either during exertion or at rest
- Palpitations (a sensation of rapid or very strong heart beats in your chest)
- Dizziness, light-headedness, or fainting
- Weakness on exertion or at rest
- Irregular heart beat
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