Cholesterol ... everybody's heard of it ... but just what is it?
And what does it have to do with heart attack and stroke?
Well, cholesterol is a type of fat in your blood. And it's not all bad.
Your body needs some cholesterol for things like making new cells.
But if you have too much, it can slowly build up in your arteries and form a substance called plaque.
Plaque makes your arteries stiff and narrow ...
a problem called atherosclerosis ... or hardening of the arteries.
And when your arteries are narrow and stiff, less blood can flow through to your heart and brain.
Now ... if the plaque breaks open ... a blood clot can form around it and completely block the blood flow. If that happens in your heart ...
you can have a heart attack. If it happens in your brain, you can have a stroke.
So ... having high cholesterol raises your risk for a heart attack and stroke.
But cholesterol is only one piece of the risk puzzle.
Lots of other things are important too ... like your age... your sex...
your race... your blood pressure... whether you have diabetes ...
and whether you smoke.
Your doctor will put all these pieces together to figure out your heart attack and stroke risk.
If you need to lower your risk, an important first step is to make heart-healthy lifestyle changes ... like eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains ... losing weight if you need to ...
not smoking ... and being active on most days of the week.
You might also take cholesterol medicine.
But even if you take medicine, heart-healthy changes are still very important ...
because they can lower your risk and help keep you as healthy as you can be.
So ... talk with your doctor about your heart attack and stroke risk ...
and the best things you can do to lower it.