Hyper Cholesterol

Just 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.

 


   Relevant Articles and Reports

Statement | About us | Job Opportunities |

Copyright 1999---2024 by Mebo TCM Training Center

Jing ICP Record No.08105532-2