Usually when you hear about heart attacks, strokes and heart disease, a discussion about cholesterol isn’t too far behind. Why? Because the two go hand in glove.
If you lower your cholesterol, you lower your risk of heart disease. And conversely, if you raise your cholesterol, you raise your chance of heart problems.
But here’s the good news! Not all cholesterol is bad. In fact, there’s good cholesterol, too.
Cholesterol is moved to and from cells by protein and fat molecules known as lipoproteins. The “bad” cholesterol you hear about is LDL (or low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. You don’t want than in your blood stream. Its “good” twin is high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, commonly referred to as HDL. Combine these two with triglycerides and Lp(a) cholesterol and you get the total cholesterol count as determined by blood tests.
So before you have you cholesterol checked, here’s a primer on what you should know about how different types of cholesterol affect your body.
- LDL Cholesterol: When too much LDL cholesterol circulates in your blood, it can build up and harden on your arterial walls. Arteries are responsible for carrying blood to the heart and brain, making them vital “highways” in the body’s complex network. If arteries are hardened, or narrowed, by cholesterol’s resulting plaque, clots may become stuck and cause a heart attack or stroke.
- HDL Cholesterol: An estimated 25 to 30 percent of cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein. This is considered the “good” cholesterol because higher levels of HDL are linked to preventing heart attacks. Some researchers believe that HDL carries cholesterol away from the arteries to the liver, where it can be eliminated from the body. HDL may also remove cholesterol from the arteries and slow its harmful buildup.
- Triglycerides Triglycerides are fats made by the body. In high levels, they can be harmful. Lack of exercise, obesity, excess alcohol use, cigarette smoking and high-carbohydrate diets are among the causes of elevated triglycerides, which can lead to high cholesterol. Research shows correlations between heart disease, diabetes, and high levels of triglycerides.
- Lp(a) Lp(a) is a variation of LDL cholesterol. High levels of it are linked to a higher risk for developing fatty deposits in the arteries.