Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, claiming the lives of more than 700,000 Americans each year. The heart is a muscle that pumps blood throughout the body. Like any muscle, the heart requires a steady, plentiful blood supply to thrive. Heart attacks happen when the arteries that deliver blood to the heart become blocked. Starved of the oxygen and nutrients carried in the blood, heart cells die. If you don't receive swift medical attention, so will you. Cholesterol is a soft, waxy, fat-like substance found naturally in animal products, such as meat and dairy foods. The human body requires a certain amount of cholesterol to form hormones and vitamin D, Read more among other things. Indeed, it's so important that the body can make all the cholesterol it needs. An overabundance of cholesterol in the body, however, can result in high levels in the blood, where it can add to the plaque on artery walls.

Scientists are still trying to figure out what causes plaque to form, but there is no question that having high blood cholesterol is a major cause of heart attacks. In this article, we'll talk about what those cholesterol numbers mean and steps you can take to help get your cholesterol under control. The risk to your heart is affected not only by the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, but also by how it is packaged. It's well known that water and oil don't mix. The same is true for blood, a watery substance, and cholesterol, an oily one. For cholesterol to move through the blood, it must be packaged with protein into a molecule called a lipoprotein. There are two primary types of lipoproteins, high-density and low-density. High-density lipoproteins (or HDLs) are considered the "good" form of cholesterol because they help shuttle excess cholesterol out of the body.

Low-density lipoproteins (or LDLs), in contrast, tend to deposit their cholesterol into plaque, where it hinders blood flow. So the more of your total blood cholesterol that's packaged as HDLs, the better for your arteries and heart; the more that's bundled in LDLs, Prime Boosts Pills the greater danger to your heart. The levels of LDLs and HDLs in your blood can be determined through a blood test, as your total cholesterol level can, and it's important you get this additional information if you've been told you have high blood cholesterol. Some other major risk factors for cardiovascular disease -- in addition to high total and high LDL cholesterol levels -- include heredity, increasing age (55 percent of all heart attack victims are 65 or older, 45 percent are under 65 years of age, and 5 percent are under 40), and being male (although after menopause, a woman's risk rises to almost equal that of a man). But while there's nothing you can do about your genes, gender, or age, you can control your cholesterol.

Doctors can prescribe powerful drugs, including a class called statins, which produce dramatic reductions in blood cholesterol. What Do Cholesterol Numbers Mean? So you've had the blood test and received your lipoprotein profile. But what do all those numbers mean? Only your doctor can say for sure. Below you'll find guidelines established in 2001 by the National Cholesterol Education Program, a part of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. But these guidelines provide only a general view. What your numbers mean in terms of your heart-disease risk and your treatment options and goals depend on whether you already have heart disease or have any other risk factors for it. Now that you know how to interpret your blood cholesterol rating, you have enough information to begin making decisions about how to bring that number down. Let's review some various home remedies to reduce high cholesterol in the next section. To see all of our home remedies and the conditions they treat, go to our main Home Remedies page.

For an overview of all of our herbal remedies, go to the main Herbal Remedies page. Learn about cures you can use at home to improve the health of your ticker in Home Remedies for Heart Disease. Read Home Remedies for High Blood Pressure to learn about steps you can take at home to ease hypertension. To learn more about the science behind heart attacks, read How Heart Disease Works. This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Neither the Editors of Consumer Guide (R), Publications International, Ltd., the author nor publisher take responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, procedure, exercise, dietary modification, action or application of medication which results from reading or following the information contained in this information. The publication of this information does not constitute the practice of medicine, and this information does not replace the advice of your physician or other health care provider. Before undertaking any course of treatment, the reader must seek the advice of their physician or other health care provider.