What is High Cholesterol?

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a natural occurring fatty chemical that is an important component of the outer lining (membrane) of cells in the body. Approximately 70% of cholesterol is made in the liver and small intestine and the rest comes from your diet. Cholesterol is also important for:

• Maintaining healthy cells
• Hormone synthesis
• Vitamin D synthesis
  

How is cholesterol carried around the body?

• A substance called a 'lipoprotein' transports cholesterol in the bloodstream to sites around the body as cholesterol cannot move around the body on it's own

Types of Lipoproteins

There are 2 types of lipoproteins. You may have heard something before about your 'good' cholesterol and your 'bad ' cholesterol.

• High Density Lipoprotein or otherwise known as HDL-C is known as the 'good cholesterol'. It takes up excess cholesterol from the blood (approximately 20%-30%) and brings it straight to the liver where it is excreted and cleared from the body

• The 'bad' cholesterol is called Low Density Lipoprotein or LDL-C. LDL-C is a major carrier of cholesterol(approximately 60%-70%) in the blood. When LDL-C levels are too high, the cholesterol content can be deposited in the walls of arteries, causing the formation of hard thick plaques over time. As the plaques get thicker, blockage and narrowing of the arteries can occur. This is a disease called 'atherosclerosis'

• Problems that plaques can cause:
  
  There are 3 main ways in which plaques cause disease:
  
  Lack of oxygen to the heart muscle because of blockage causes chest pain and a condition called ischaemia. Complete blockage of the artery can lead to a heart attack
  
  Small parts of the plaque may break off and circulate in the blood to cause a blockage elsewhere. This is known as an embolism 
  
  Sometimes plaques can also cause the walls of the arteries to weaken. As the walls become thinner the blood expands through the wall and a leakage can occur. This is known as an aneurysm

How do you get high cholesterol?

• A major cause of high cholesterol is consumption of foods which have a high content of saturated fats. Example's of these are foods such as burgers and fries, bacon, whole fat milk and butter.

• High cholesterol may also be inherited (a condition known as familial hypercholesterolaemia)

• High cholesterol can also occur in patients with diseases of the liver, kidney, diabetes or an under-active thyroid

How serious is high cholesterol?

• High cholesterol can lead to an increase in cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks or strokes.  If you already have heart disease then lowering your cholesterol will probably help you live longer
  
• It is well established that lowering your cholesterol reduces the risk of illness or death from heart disease