The average American diet includes too much fat, which explains why nearly 17 percent of the U.S. adult population suffers from high blood cholesterol levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cholesterol is a lipid vital to life, but high blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for the onset of heart disease. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States, which means too much cholesterol can kill people.
Types of Cholesterol
To understand how cholesterol level lead to life-threatening conditions, you must first understand the different types of cholesterol. Cholesterol's different forms are based on the type of lipoprotein carrying the cholesterol. Lipoproteins are specialized proteins consisting of triglyceride -- another type of fat -- and protein that bind to cholesterol to carry it through the blood. Low-density lipoprotein, LDL, carries cholesterol from the liver to the cells. This type of cholesterol remains in the blood. High-density lipoprotein, HDL, picks up excess cholesterol from the blood and tissues and carries it back to the liver, where it gets broken down and excreted from the body. A total cholesterol level reports the amount of LDL, HDL and other lipids.
High Cholesterol
Doctors provide a diagnosis of high blood cholesterol based on total blood cholesterol levels or LDL blood cholesterol levels. Total cholesterol levels of 240 mg/dL or higher are considered high. Doctors encourage patients to maintain total blood cholesterol of 200 mg/dL or less. Because LDL stays in the blood, high levels contribute to cardiovascular problems. LDL levels of 130 to 159 mg/dL are borderline high while those reaching 160 mg/dL or higher are high. Doctors encourage healthy patients to maintain a LDL level of less than 130 mg/dL but 100 mg/dL or less remains optimal. Patients with high cholesterol are twice as likely to develop heart disease, which can lead to death.
Impact on the Cardiovascular System
As cholesterol levels in the body increase, the amount of cholesterol in the blood vessels also increases. Too much LDL cholesterol in the blood vessels allows cholesterol to accumulate, usually at areas of damage to the blood vessel walls. The accumulated cholesterol forms plaque -- a substance of cholesterol, calcium and other particles that make blood vessels hard and thick. Plaque interferes with blood flow. When this occurs in the blood vessels leading to the heart, it causes coronary artery disease, the most common form of heart disease, which accounted for one of every six deaths in the United States in 2006, according to the American Heart Association report on Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics . In addition, pieces of plaque can break away and cause a heart attack or stroke. All of these conditions can lead to death.
Prevention
To combat the incidence of high cholesterol, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute created the National Cholesterol Education Program in November of 1985. Since its creation, the incidence of high cholesterol levels has declined for men and women of all ages, as reported by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publication "Health, United States, 2010." This decline in cholesterol levels may be attributed to an increase in awareness due to the program and the use of cholesterol-lowering medication. To prevent death due to high cholesterol, everyone age 20 and older should check their cholesterol levels every five years and make lifestyle changes to maintain healthy levels.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: America's Cholesterol Burden; February 2010
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Health, United States, 2010; February 2011
- American Heart Association: What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean; February 2011
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute: What is High Blood Cholesterol?; September 2008
- American Heart Association: Report on Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics; 2010
