Cholesterol is that soft, waxy substance that is found in your bloodstream and in every cell in your body, where it helps produce cell membranes, hormones, vitamin D and bile acids that help you digest fat. Your liver makes about 75% of your body's cholesterol.
We have all heard of good and bad cholesterol and that is simply not true. HDL and LDL are lipoproteins (fats combined with proteins). There is only one kind of cholesterol. Cholesterol is just cholesterol! There is no life on Earth that can live without cholesterol.
Inflammation is now the hot word in the medical field because it is linked to so many different diseases and especially heart disease, you know, the one that cholesterol is often blamed for.
Cholesterol and Inflammation, how are they connected?
Inflammation can be a good thing if you cut yourself, then the process of inflammation is what happens when you heal. Your blood vessels constrict to keep you from bleeding out, your blood becomes thicker so it can clot, your immune system kicks in and sends cells and chemicals to fight viruses, bacteria and other things could infect the area then the cut is healed and a protective scar may form to cover the area.
If your arteries are damaged, a very similar process happens inside your body, except the scar in your artery is now called plaque.
The plaque, along with the new thick blood and constricting of your blood vessels that occur during the inflammation process, can indeed increase your risk of a heart attack.
Cholesterol comes into the picture because it wants to do its job of replacing your damaged cells, remember that no cell can form without cholesterol. So, if you have a bunch of damaged cells that need to be replaced, your liver is then notified and told to make more cholesterol and release it in your bloodstream.
When you see your physician, you should request to have a CRP blood test. This is a test to determine if you have chronic inflammation and this CRP level should be used as a marker as to the inflammation in your arteries.
- A CRP level that is under 1 mg per liter of blood means you have a low risk for cardiovascular disease.
- A CRP level of 1-3 mg means your risk is intermediate
- More than 3 mg is high risk
Jim
