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Like the literary split personality, cholesterol has a good side
because it is needed for certain important body functions. But for
many people cholesterol also has an evil side. When present in
excessive amounts, it can injure blood vessels and cause heart attacks
and stroke.
The body needs cholesterol for digesting
dietary fats, making hormones, building cell walls, and other
important processes. The bloodstream carries cholesterol in particles
called lipoproteins that are like blood-borne cargo trucks delivering
cholesterol to various body tissues to be used, stored or excreted.
But too much of this circulating cholesterol can injure arteries,
especially the coronary ones that supply the heart.
This leads to accumulation of
cholesterol-laden "plaque" in vessel linings, a condition
called atherosclerosis. It greatly increases your chances of
developing coronary heart disease, the main form of heart disease.
That is because extra cholesterol in the blood collects in the inner
walls of the arteries, allowing less blood to get to the heart.
When blood flow to the heart is impeded, the heart muscle becomes
starved for oxygen, causing chest pain (angina). If a blood clot
completely obstructs a coronary artery affected by atherosclerosis, a
heart attack (myocardial infarction) or death can occur.
A key factor that could drop high cholesterol is patients and doctors
today should be better informed about the risks associated with
elevated cholesterol and the benefits of lifestyle changes and medical
measures aimed at lowering blood cholesterol.
new class of drugs called statins have
provided doctors with an arsenal of therapies to lower elevated blood
cholesterol levels, often dramatically. To date, FDA has approved six
statin drugs.
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