Why High Blood Cholesterol Level Is Not Good For Your Health

Cholesterol shares one common attribute with fat in that neither is able to move about freely in a person's bloodstream. The reason for this is that cholesterol (and, fat) do not easily mix when put in water and the result therefore is that the blood in your body ends up transporting the cholesterol particles to various parts of the body where the cholesterol can be stored, used or excreted. However, when blood cholesterol level rises above recommended levels, there is a risk of causing damage to the arteries and more particularly to those arteries that transport blood to the heart.

Plaque Build-Up

The result of high blood cholesterol level is that plaque build-up occurs in the linings of these blood vessels that in turn lead to a condition referred to by the medical community as atherosclerosis. The build-up of plaque in the arteries is known to impair the free flow of blood to the heart which leads to starving blood muscles (because of less oxygen reaching them) and this leads to angina or chest pain.

Sometimes, a blood clot might develop and this in turn leads to complete blockage of the coronary artery that is already affected by atherosclerosis and the consequences are dire – leading to heart attacks, death and strokes.

This begs the question as to how to find out if you are in fact, affected by high blood cholesterol level. The sad truth is that cardiovascular diseases are a major health concern for most Americans and for those living in the advance countries of the world. In America alone, it is believed that well over seventy million Americans suffer from cardiovascular diseases – the culprit in most cases being high blood cholesterol level. The result: a staggering four hundred dollars in costs of treating; and, the discomforting truth that a stroke affects an American once in every forty-five seconds.

High blood cholesterol level occurs when the total cholesterol in your blood is as high as 240 milligrams per deciliter of your blood. This is when you will be most at risk of suffering from heart attacks as well as strokes. A blood cholesterol level of between two hundred and two hundred and thirty-nine mg/dl on the other hand is borderline risk and such levels are believed to affect an estimated, it is believed, thirty-three percent American adults.

To determine your exact blood cholesterol level means having cholesterol test done. Even people that are not too old may need to get this test done because lifestyles today are making even younger people prone to suffering from high blood cholesterol level. Getting it tested is one way of nipping the trouble in the bud.

Other factors that can affect a person's blood cholesterol level include heredity, age; gender, stress as well as excess body weight.