Cholesterol gets a bad rap, but it is actually an essential component in the membrane of nearly every cell in your body. Cholesterol also serves as a necessary precursor in the production of steroid hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D. That said, high cholesterol, or hyperlipidemia, is an adverse health condition characterized by excessively high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, often referred to as “bad cholesterol.”
In contrast with high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, or “good” cholesterol, which actually helps remove excess LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream, high LDL cholesterol increases the risk of atherosclerosis, or arterial hardening and plaque buildup, along with heart disease and other vascular diseases. For example, studies show that compared to those with normal cholesterol levels, people with high cholesterol are about not twice as likely to develop cardiovascular disease, one of the leading causes of death in the United States.
