How are concentrations of LDL and HDL associated with the risk of heart disease and associated disorders?
Raised or unhealthy patterns of blood cholesterol affect many people. Many factors play a part including:
the genes you inherit from your parents
your diet and lifestyle
your weight
whether you are male or female
your age
your ethnicity
your medical history
Having unhealthy cholesterol levels alongside other risk factors for heart and circulatory disease such as smoking or high blood pressure can put you at very high risk of early heart disease.
When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it can build up on the walls of the arteries causing a form of heart disease called atherosclerosis. Through this disease, the arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart muscle becomes slowed down or completely blocked off. If not enough blood or oxygen can reach the heart, the individual may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely blocked off, the result is a heart attack or stroke.
the genes you inherit from your parents
your diet and lifestyle
your weight
whether you are male or female
your age
your ethnicity
your medical history
Having unhealthy cholesterol levels alongside other risk factors for heart and circulatory disease such as smoking or high blood pressure can put you at very high risk of early heart disease.
When there is too much cholesterol in your blood, it can build up on the walls of the arteries causing a form of heart disease called atherosclerosis. Through this disease, the arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart muscle becomes slowed down or completely blocked off. If not enough blood or oxygen can reach the heart, the individual may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely blocked off, the result is a heart attack or stroke.
LDL is the main source of artery clogging plaque, while HDL actually works to clear cholesterol from the bloodstream. That's why saying one is bad and one is good is not necessarily correct. Yes, it's not good to have a lot of LDL, but when in right amounts, it's important to have both LDL and HDL because both are vital for our body function. But in terms of disease prevention, the higher the LDL, the higher the risk of the disease, while the higher the HDL, the lower the risk of the disease.
Therefore, it is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are. Lowering ones cholesterol levels lowers the risk of developing heart disease or dying from the heart disease that the person currently has (WebMD, n.d.).
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