Coronary heart disease, or CHD, is a disorder of the blood vessels that supply your heart with blood. It occurs when these blood vessels become too narrow. Cells, tissues and organs like the heart need nutrients and oxygen that blood delivers to carry out their duties. Narrow blood vessels, as seen in coronary heart disease, may cause a reduction in blood flow to your heart and deprive it of life-sustaining oxygen and other nourishment. Having coronary heart disease may put you at risk for heart attacks. There are several risk factors for coronary heart disease, and high blood cholesterol levels is one of them.
Risk Factors for CHD
The American Heart Association states that there are several risk factors for coronary heart disease. Some risk factors can be reduced or modified and others cannot. Advanced age, being a man, heredity and race are risk factors of coronary heart disease that cannot be changed. Controllable risk factors of this disease are those that can be reduced or modified through lifestyle changes or medical treatment. They include being overweight, having diabetes, smoking tobacco, having a high blood pressure and having high blood cholesterol levels.
What Is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is produced by your liver. It is also found in some of the foods that you eat. It is a soft, fat-like substance that does not dissolve in blood. Despite the fact that cholesterol and blood are like oil and water, it still has to be transported to cells through the blood. For this to happen, it is transported as a lipoprotein, which is a mixture of cholesterol and proteins. Cholesterol serves many functions in your body. It makes up part of the cell membrane's structure and is needed in the synthesis of bile, vitamin D and hormones. There are two types of cholesterol--low -ensity lipoprotein, or "bad cholesterol," and high-density lipoprotein, or "good cholesterol."
Bad Cholesterol and CHD
Cholesterol is transported to cells as low-density lipoproteins. During the process of transport, low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, can slowly begin to build up on the walls of blood vessels that supply blood to your heart, also known as your coronary arteries. A mixture of LDL and other substances changes it to plaque, a hard substance that makes the coronary arteries hard instead of it being elastic and flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis.
When this layer of plaque becomes thick enough, it can cause a narrowing of your coronary arteries, leading to CHD. This can reduce the flow of blood to your heart and in some cases completely block blood supply, resulting in angina, also known as chest pains, or even a heart attack. High levels of LDL put you at risk for coronary heart disease.
Good Cholesterol and CHD
Good cholesterol, or HDL, transports excess cholesterol from different parts of your body to your liver. Your liver then processes this cholesterol and prepares it for disposal from your body. High-density lipoprotein also slows down the growth of plaque by removing low-density lipoproteins found on the walls of your arteries, including your coronary arteries. Having normal blood levels of high-density lipoprotein may reduce your risk for coronary heart disease.
Controlling Your Cholesterol Level
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes states that studies have shown that people without heart disease who lower their cholesterol levels greatly reduce their risk for developing CHD, including heart attacks and CHD-related death. It goes on to suggest that this is also applicable to those with high cholesterol levels and for those with average cholesterol levels. You can lower your blood cholesterol levels and risk for coronary heart disease by eating a heart-healthy diet, controlling your weight and being physically active.
References
- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes: Coronary Heart Disease Explained
- American Heart Association: Risk Factors and Coronary Heart Disease
- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes: What Does Cholesterol Have to Do With Heart Disease?
- The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes: How You Can Lower Your Cholesterol Levels
- American Heart AssociationLDL and HDL Cholesterol: What's Bad and What's Good?
