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High Cholestrol

 High cholesterol is a condition that occurs when levels of cholesterol in your blood are elevated enough to cause health problems, including heart disease and stroke.  Sometimes known as hyperlipidemia, high cholesterol is painless and doesn’t cause any symptoms until a person develops severe heart disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, and stroke is the fifth leading cause.

Approximately 93 million Americans over 20 years old, or almost 40 percent of the U.S. population, have high cholesterol.

 Slightly more than half of adults with high cholesterol are getting treatment to lower it, the CDC notes.

Produced by your liver, cholesterol is a dense, fatty substance that’s found in every cell of your body, and it is considered essential to many life-sustaining functions. It helps your body make hormones and vitamin D, and it's also found in compounds that your body creates to help you digest food, such as bile.

Circulating in the bloodstream in small bundles of fat and protein called lipoproteins, cholesterol comes in two primary types: low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which contributes to the buildup of fatty plaques, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), which is thought to protect from heart disease and stroke.  A blood test known as a lipid panel can measure both LDL and HDL cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, the most common type of fat in the blood.

Although scientists have long focused on measuring LDL cholesterol through a blood test, new research suggests that this narrow focus on LDL cholesterol levels does not necessarily lead to overall improved health outcomes for patients.

 Some people with healthy LDL levels may still develop heart disease.
Currently, the American Heart Association (AHA)

 and the CDC

 both recommend that healthy adults over 20 get their cholesterol levels measured every four to six years. People who already have high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, or other risk factors may need to check their cholesterol levels more often.

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