Certain risk factors for heart disease, such as gender and heredity, cannot be controlled. There are other risk factors, however, which an individual can control to reduce their chance for developing heart disease. Some of these controllable risk factors are smoking, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance carried in the blood. A small amount of cholesterol is needed by the body to help maintain nerve cells and synthesize natural hormones.
Cholesterol can become a risk to health, however, when there is more in the body than is needed.
Excess cholesterol becomes deposited in the arteries as atherosclerosis, which can damage the heart and other organs. Some of these particles can cause heart disease, while others can actually help protect the heart. Individual variations in body composition, diet, activity level, as well as methods of collecting and testing blood samples, can affect the accuracy of cholesterol measurements. Therefore, persons with high cholesterol or at high risk for cardiovascular disease may need to have blood cholesterol checked two or more times over several weeks. Heredity plays an especially important role in determining an individual's cholesterol level.