What Role Does Cholesterol Play in Coronary Heart Disease?

The relationship between cholesterol numbers and heart disease depends on some controlled and uncontrolled factors. When you know the dangers of heart disease, you can learn what to do to control your own risk factors.

Identification

• Coronary heart disease is a narrowing or tightening of the blood vessels that carry vital blood and oxygen to your heart. This is the result of plaque building up on your artery walls and constricting the ability of blood to flow freely.

Types

• High levels of cholesterol are directly correlated with the risk of developing heart disease. Part of this is due to what you consume in dietary cholesterol, fat, and saturated fat, and part of this is due to personal factors, such as age, gender, and race.

Numbers

• Cholesterol levels below 200 mg/dL are ideal. If your range is between 200 and 239 mg/dL, you should adopt lifestyle changes to lower your levels before they exceed 240 mg/dL; at that point your risk of coronary heart disease is doubled.

Significance

• If left unchecked long enough, coronary heart disease will trigger a heart attack. Heart disease is the leading cause of death among men and women, claiming more than 600,000 lives each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control (See References 3).

Prevention/Solution

• To keep your cholesterol levels low, restrict your consumption of dietary cholesterol, exercise, maintain a healthy weight, and quit smoking. If that is still not enough, talk to your doctor about cholesterol-lowering medications.