Lowering Cholesterol to Prevent Heart Disease

Lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease is one of the best things you can do for your long-term health. High cholesterol is one of several risk factors for heart disease. Several studies have examined the value of lowering cholesterol to prevent heart disease. These studies found that there are significant benefits to lowering cholesterol, even among people who already have heart disease or among those with diabetes.

 

Lowering Cholesterol to Prevent Heart Disease: An Overview

High cholesterol is one of several risk factors for heart disease. It does not cause damage over the course of days or weeks; but over the years, high blood cholesterol can lead to atherosclerosis, which is a narrowing or complete blockage of arteries due to the buildup of plaque. The arteries most affected by plaque buildup are the coronary arteries, which supply blood to the heart.
 

Understanding the Risk Factors for Heart Disease

Besides high cholesterol, other risk factors for
 heart disease include:
 
  • Being a man over the age of 55 or a woman over the age of 65
  • Having an immediate family member who died of heart disease before those ages
  • Using tobacco products
  • Having high blood pressure (also known as hypertension)
  • Having diabetes
  • Being overweight and/or leading an inactive lifestyle.
 
People with heart disease are at high risk for a heart attack. This high risk is expressed as "more than 20 percent in the next 10 years," which means that more than 20 out of 100 people with heart disease will have a heart attack within 10 years. Several studies have been carried out to see whether lowering cholesterol in such high-risk people would be beneficial.
 
(Click Heart Attack Risk to calculate your 10-year risk for a heart attack.)
 
(Lowering Cholesterol to Prevent Heart Disease Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD