A service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health
Cholesterol
URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cholesterol.html
Also called: HDL, Hypercholesterolemia, Hyperlipidemia, Hyperlipoproteinemia, LDL
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your blood, it can combine with other substances in the blood and stick to the walls of your arteries. This is called plaque. Plaque can narrow your arteries or even block them.
High levels of cholesterol in the blood can increase your risk of heart disease. Your cholesterol levels tend to rise as you get older. There are usually no signs or symptoms that you have high blood cholesterol, but it can be detected with a blood test. You are likely to have high cholesterol if members of your family have it, if you are overweight or if you eat a lot of fatty foods.
You can lower your cholesterol by exercising more and eating more fruits and vegetables. You also may need to take medicine to lower your cholesterol.
High levels of cholesterol in the blood can increase your risk of heart disease. Your cholesterol levels tend to rise as you get older. There are usually no signs or symptoms that you have high blood cholesterol, but it can be detected with a blood test. You are likely to have high cholesterol if members of your family have it, if you are overweight or if you eat a lot of fatty foods.
You can lower your cholesterol by exercising more and eating more fruits and vegetables. You also may need to take medicine to lower your cholesterol.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
National Institutes of Health
- The primary NIH organization for research on Cholesterol is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
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Start Here
- About Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- High Blood Cholesterol
- Managing Cholesterol
(Patient Education Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
Overviews
- Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- Cholesterol
(Food and Drug Administration)
- Also available in Spanish
- High Blood Cholesterol: What You Need to Know
- High Cholesterol(American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Also available in Spanish
- High Cholesterol: Understand Your Risks(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Levels of Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
Latest News
- Health Tip: Do You Need Frequent Cholesterol Screenings?(09/19/2013, HealthDay)
- High Cholesterol and The Sexes
(08/28/2013, HealthDay)
- Stopping Statins
Diagnosis/Symptoms
- Get Your Cholesterol Checked
- How to Get Your Cholesterol Tested(American Heart Association)
- What Do My Cholesterol Levels Mean?(American Heart Association)
Treatment
- Drug Therapy for Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- High Cholesterol: Cholesterol-Lowering Medicines(American Academy of Family Physicians)
- Also available in Spanish
- High Cholesterol: Medicines to Help You
- How Is High Blood Cholesterol Treated?(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- MedlinePlus: Statins
- Also available in Spanish
- Niacin to Boost Your HDL "Good" Cholesterol(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Treating High Cholesterol: A Guide for Adults(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
- Also available in Spanish
- Your Guide to Lowering Cholesterol with TLC (Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes)
- Return to top
Prevention/Screening
- Cholesterol Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- HDL Cholesterol Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- High Blood Cholesterol Prevention(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Home-Use Tests - Cholesterol(Food and Drug Administration)
- LDL Cholesterol Test(American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
- Top Five Lifestyle Changes to Reduce Cholesterol(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Return to top
Alternative Therapy
- Cholesterol-Lowering Supplements: Lower Your Numbers without Prescription Medication(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Flaxseed and Flaxseed Oil
- Garlic
- Grape Seed Extract
- Green Tea
- Red Clover
- Red Yeast Rice: An Introduction
- Soy
- Time to Talk: High Blood Cholesterol? 5 Things You Should Know
- Return to top
Nutrition
- Cholesterol: Top Five Foods to Lower Your Numbers(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Cooking for Lower Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In with the Good(Harvard School of Public Health)
- Tips by Cuisine(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Disease Management
- Cholesterol Levels: What Numbers Should You Aim for?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Lifestyle Changes and Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- Tips to Sticking with Lifestyle Changes(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Specific Conditions
- Good vs. Bad Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- HDL Cholesterol: How to Boost Your 'Good' Cholesterol(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Hyperlipidemia(American Heart Association)
- Overview of Cholesterol and Lipid Disorders(Merck & Co., Inc.)
- Return to top
Related Issues
- Cholesterol Level: Can It Be Too Low?(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Common Misconceptions about Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- Understand Your Risk for High Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- Xanthelasma Palpebrarum(Logical Images)
- Return to top
Health Check Tools
- Cholesterol IQ Quiz(American Heart Association)
- Risk Assessment Tool for Estimating Your 10-Year Risk of Having a Heart Attack
- Return to top
Tutorials
- High Blood Cholesterol
(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)
- Managing Cholesterol(Patient Education Institute)
- Also available in Spanish
- Return to top
Videos
- If I Had - Abnormal Cholesterol on Routine Blood Work(Insidermedicine)
- Return to top
Anatomy/Physiology
- What Do Fats Do in the Body?
- Return to top
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Hypercholesterolemia
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperlipidemia, Familial Combined
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperlipidemias
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperlipoproteinemia Type II
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperlipoproteinemia Type III
- Return to top
Genetics
- Genetics Home Reference: Familial HDL deficiency
- Genetics Home Reference: Hypercholesterolemia
- Genetics Home Reference: Tangier disease
- Learning about Familial Hypercholesterolemia
- Return to top
Research
- Big, Fat World of Lipids
- High Cholesterol and Complementary Health Practices: What the Science Says
- Taking Dietary Supplements with Heart, Blood Pressure, or Cholesterol Medicines: A Review of the Research for Adults(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
- Return to top
Journal Articles
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Plasma lipids, genetic variants near APOA1, and the risk of...
- Article: Gender difference in the relationship between passive smoking exposure and...
- Article: Author's response. Universal lipid screening: in response to ongoing debate.
- Cholesterol -- see more articles
- Treating high cholesterol -- see more articles
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Organizations
Statistics
- CDC Vital Signs: High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Cholesterol Facts and Statistics(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Also available in Spanish
- Percentage of Adults with High Cholesterol Whose LDL Cholesterol Levels Are Adequately Controlled(Department of Health and Human Services)
- Total and High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol in Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2010(National Center for Health Statistics)
- Return to top
MedlinePlus Magazine
Children
- Cholesterol and Your Child(Nemours Foundation)
- Also available in Spanish
- What's Cholesterol?(Nemours Foundation)
- Return to top
Teenagers
- Dietary Fat and Cholesterol(Children's Hospital Boston)
- What Is Cholesterol?(Nemours Foundation)
- Return to top
Women
- Women and Cholesterol(American Heart Association)
- Return to top
Seniors
- High Blood Cholesterol
- Return to top
Patient Handouts
- Apolipoprotein B100
- Also available in Spanish
- Apolipoprotein CII
- Also available in Spanish
- Cholesterol - drug treatment
- Also available in Spanish
- Cholesterol and lifestyle
- Also available in Spanish
- Familial combined hyperlipidemia
- Also available in Spanish
- Familial dysbetalipoproteinemia
- Also available in Spanish
- Familial hypercholesterolemia
- Also available in Spanish
- High blood cholesterol levels
- Also available in Spanish
- Talk with Your Health Care Provider about High Cholesterol(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - PDF
- Understanding cholesterol results
- Also available in Spanish
- VLDL test
- Also available in Spanish
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