Chest pain can represent a condition as benign as trapped gas or as serious as an impending heart attack. Transient chest discomfort, called angina, can frighten you when it first occurs. The pain alerts you to a problem. It tugs at you until you pay it attention. Chest pain can save your life. By the time the pain starts, your cholesterol level has already created artery blockages. See your doctor if you experience any chest pain.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol has a waxy, fat-like consistency. It travels in the bloodstream in fat-bearing lipoproteins. Your body needs cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D and digestive substances. It does a good job of this using its own source of cholesterol. Cholesterol does have a purpose. The problem comes in when you take in more than your body needs from external sources. Many of the foods you eat contain cholesterol, some more than others.
Cholesterol Types
Cholesterol comes in three types. HDL, the high-density lipid cholesterol, is the good cholesterol. It helps keep the levels of the others in check. You want more of this in your body, over 60 mg/dL. LDL, the low-density lipid cholesterol, poses a problem in the body. Their numbers should stay under 100 mg/dL or under 70 mg/dL for smokers or people with uncontrolled blood pressure, metabolic syndrome or heart disease history. Triglycerides are bad guys, too. They increase in the short-term based on what you eat. People who exceed the normal level of 150 mg/dL have an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Chest Pain
Because you cannot break down and eliminate unused cholesterol from the body, it takes up residence in your arteries. It adheres to the walls and continues to add to itself like a snowball rolling downhill. Eventually the blob of cholesterol hardens and blocks the artery, inhibiting blood from flowing. This phenomenon poses a serious problem when it occurs in the arteries that supply the heart with its nourishment. When the blood tries to force itself by the blockage, it creates a pain in the chest referred to as angina. Angina goes away by itself, as the blood eventually makes it through the artery. Chest pain that does not cease on its own probably indicates a heart attack. The blood gets completely blocked off and causes a lack of oxygen and cardiac tissue death.
Recommendations
High cholesterol itself does not have symptoms. Because you may only discover it when your arteries become blocked with atherosclerosis and cause chest pain, you must monitor it all your life. People over age 20 should have it checked by a physician. You should have the tests frequently as you move into middle age. Heart disease caused by high cholesterol can be prevented by regular monitoring and diet adjustment. Nutrition education plays a huge role in lowering and maintaining cholesterol levels. If diet should fail or you have a genetic disposition to high cholesterol, lipid-lowering medications can help. Learn about their side effects before taking them.
