If you have high cholesterol, you are at increased risk for heart attack and stroke. At CareMD, our caring staff can diagnose and help you manage your high cholesterol levels and help prevent further health complications.

Cholesterol is a specific type of waxy fat in your blood that helps form the lining of your cells. It’s essential for your body to function properly, but too much can be dangerous. Your liver makes and balances about 80% of the cholesterol your body needs, and you get the rest from certain foods, such as dairy, eggs, and meat.

Medical professionals measure cholesterol in milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dL) of blood. A healthy cholesterol level is 200mg/dL. Anything between 200mg/dL and 230mg/dL is borderline high. Once a level reaches over 240mg/dL, you receive a high cholesterol diagnosis and need treatment.

What problems are associated with high cholesterol?

High levels of cholesterol cause a buildup on the walls of your arteries and pose a number of serious health threats, including:

  • Atherosclerosis
  • Coronary artery disease
  • Heart attack
  • Peripheral vascular disease
  • Stroke
  • High blood pressure
  • Transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
  • Blood clot

If you have high cholesterol, the knowledgeable team at CareMD can help.

What causes high cholesterol?

The two types of cholesterol are high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the “bad” cholesterol. It builds up in the walls of your arteries, making them hard and narrow and unable to function correctly.

Eating an unhealthy diet, being obese, smoking, and not exercising can all contribute to high cholesterol and are all within your control. However, you can also develop high cholesterol because of things that you can’t control, like your age, genetic makeup, and diseases like diabetes, which also damage your arteries.

Our providers take an aggressive approach to preventive care. First and foremost, his aim is that you not develop high cholesterol. But if you do, he creates a doable wellness plan that you can stick to for life.

How is high cholesterol treated?

Our providers evaluate your health history, cholesterol numbers, and risk factors to customize a plan to bring your cholesterol down.

If medication is necessary, our providers prescribe statins or other cholesterol-lowering drugs.