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Cholesterol And Heart Diesase

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

May 15, 2001 / 4:21 PM EDT / CBS

The National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the National Cholesterol Education Program have provided the following information about cholesterol and its link to heart disease. As with any medical condition, if you have any question, you should consult your physican.

Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. In fact, the higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having a heart attack. Heart disease is the number one killer of women and men in the United States. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million people die from heart disease.

Cholesterol is a fat-like substance and when there is too much of it in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, this buildup causes "atherosclerosis" or "hardening of the arteries" so that arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked. The blood carries oxygen to the heart, and if enough blood and oxygen cannot reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack.

Calculate Your Risk

Some 7 million Americans suffer from coronary heart disease, the most common form of heart disease. Coronary heart disease is the number one killer of both men and women in the U.S. Each year, more than 500,000 Americans die of heart attacks caused by coronary heart disease.

Click here for the National Cholesterol Education Program's risk assesment tool to estimate your 10-year risk of having a heart attack.

Cholesterol buildup is the most common cause of heart disease, and it happens so slowly that you are not even aware of it. The higher your blood cholesterol, the greater your chance of this buildup. High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or dyng of heart disease, even if you already have it.

Like oil and water, cholesterol and blood do not mix. So, for cholesterol to travel through your blood, it is coated with a layer of protein to make a lipoprotein. Two lipoproteins you may have heard about are low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL-cholesterol carries most of the cholesterol in the blood. When too much LDL-cholesterol is in the blood, it can lead to cholesterol buildup in the arteries. That is why LDL-cholesterol is called the "bad" cholesterol. HDL-cholesterol helps remove cholesterol from the blood and helps prevent the fatty buildup. So HDL-cholesterol is called the "good" cholesterol.

Your blood cholesterol level is influenced by many factors. These include:

What you eat: High intake of saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and excess calories leading to overweight can increase blood cholesterol levels. Americans eat an average of 12 percent of their calories from saturated fat, and 34 percent of their calories from total fat. These intakes are higher than what is recommended for the health of your heart. The average daily intake of dietary cholesterol is 220-260 mg for women and 360 mg for men.
Overweight: Being overweight can make your LDL-cholesterol level go up and your HDL-cholesterol level go down.
Physical activity: Increased physical activity lowers LDL-cholesterol and raises HDL-cholesterol levels.
Heredity: Your genes partly influence how your body makes and handles cholesterol.
Age and Sex: Blood cholesterol levels in both men and women begin to go up around age 20. Women before menopause have levels that are lower than men of the same age. After menopause, a woman's LDL-cholesterol level goes up -- and so her risk for heart disease increases.

Whatever your blood cholesterol level, you can make changes to help lower it or keep it low and reduce your risk for heart disease. These are some guidelines for heart-healthy living:

Choose foods low in saturated fat: All foods that contain fat are made up of a mixture of saturated and unsaturated fats. Saturated fat raises your blood cholesterol level more than anything else you eat. The best way to reduce blood cholesterol is to choose foods lower in saturated fat by eating foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains -- foods naturally low in total fat and high in starch and fiber.
Choose foods low in total fat: Since many foods high in total fat are also high in saturated fat, eating foods low in total fat will help you eat less saturated fat. When you do eat fat, substitute unsaturated fat for saturated fat. Fat is a rich source of calories, so eating foods low in fat will also help you eat fewer calories. Eating fewer calories can help you lose weight and, if you are overweight, losing weight is an important part of lowering your blood cholesterol.
Choose foods high istarch and fiber: Foods high in starch and fiber are excellent substitutes for foods high in saturated fat - breads, cereals, pasta, grains, fruits, and vegetables are low in saturated fat and cholesterol. When eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, foods with soluble fiber, like oat and barley bran and dry peas and beans, may help to lower blood cholesterol.
Choose foods low in cholesterol: Dietary cholesterol can raise blood cholesterol, although usually not as much as saturated fat. So it's important for you to choose foods low in dietary cholesterol - found only in foods that come from animals.
Be more physically active: Being physically active helps improve blood cholesterol levels: it can raise HDL and lower LDL.
Maintain a healthy weight, and lose weight if you are overweight: People who are overweight tend to have higher blood cholesterol levels than people of a healthy weight. Overweight adults with an "apple" shape, a bigger belly, tend to have a higher risk for heart disease than those with a "pear" shape, bigger hips and thighs.

Whatever your body shape, when you cut the fat in your diet, you cut down on the richest source of calories. An eating pattern high in starch and fiber instead of fat is a good way to help control weight. If you are overweight, losing even a little weight can help to lower LDL-cholesterol and raise HDL-cholesterol.

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