DID YOU KNOW?

This symbol on a product means that it meets the AHA’s healthy eating requirements- limiting the content of saturated fat and cholesterol. There are a lot of symbols that look similar to the AHA heart-check mark. If you are not sure, look for the name, “American Heart Association” next to the heart symbol. Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like, waxy substance found in the bloodstream and in all your body's cells. It's normal to have cholesterol. Cholesterol is an important part of a healthy body because it's used for producing cell membranes and some hormones, and serves other needed bodily functions. But too much cholesterol in the blood is a major risk for coronary heart disease (which leads to heart attack) and for stroke.

As blood cholesterol rises, so does risk of heart disease. When other risk factors (such as high blood pressure and tobacco smoke) are present, this risk increases even more. A person's cholesterol level is also affected by age, sex, heredity and diet. Here's the lowdown on where those numbers need to be:

Total Cholesterol: Less than 200 mg/dL LDL (bad) Cholesterol:
If you're at low risk for heart disease: Less than 160 mg/dL
If you're at intermediate risk for heart disease: Less than 130 mg/dL
If you're at high risk for heart disease (including those with existing heart disease or diabetes): Less than 100mg/dL

HDL (good) Cholesterol: 40 mg/dL or higher for men and 50 mg/dL or higher for women

Triglycerides: Less than 150 mg/dL Back to top

The organs in your body need oxygen to survive. Oxygen is carried through the body by the blood. When the heart beats, it creates pressure – blood pressure -- that pushes blood through a network of tube-shaped arteries and veins, also known as blood vessels and capillaries. Healthy arteries are made of muscle and a semi-flexible tissue that stretches like elastic when the heart pumps blood through them. The more forcefully that blood pumps, the more the arteries stretch to allow blood to easily flow. Over time, if the force of the blood flow is often high, the tissue that makes up the walls of arteries gets stretched beyond its healthy limit. This creates problems.

High blood pressure increases the heart's workload, causing the heart to thicken and become stiffer. This stiffening of the heart muscle is not normal, and causes the heart not to work properly. It also increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and congestive heart failure. When high blood pressure exists with obesity, smoking, high blood cholesterol levels or diabetes, the risk of heart attack or stroke increases several times.

A blood pressure reading below 120/80 is considered optimal. 120-139/80-89 is considered “prehypertension” and needs to be watched carefully. A reading of 140/90 or higher is considered high.

Take our Blood Pressure Risk Assessment
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Smokers' risk of developing heart disease is 2–4 times that of nonsmokers. Cigarette smoking also acts with other risk factors to greatly increase the risk for coronary heart disease. People who smoke cigars or pipes seem to have a higher risk of death from coronary heart disease (and possibly stroke) than non-smokers, but their risk isn't as great as cigarette smokers'. Exposure to other people's smoke increases the risk of heart disease even for nonsmokers.
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An inactive lifestyle is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Regular, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity helps prevent heart and blood vessel disease. The more vigorous the activity, the greater your benefits. However, even moderate-intensity activities help if done regularly and long term. Physical activity can help control blood cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, as well as help lower blood pressure in some people.
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People who have excess body fat — especially if a lot of it is at the waist — are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight increases the heart's work. It also raises blood pressure, blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol levels. It can also make diabetes more likely to develop.
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Diabetes can cause your blood sugar to rise to dangerous levels. Most of the food we eat is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use for energy. The pancreas, an organ near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into our bodies' cells.

When the body doesn’t make enough insulin, or develops “insulin resistance” and can’t make efficient use of the insulin it makes, a person develops Type 2 Diabetes. With Type 1 Diabetes, the pancreas makes little or no insulin. Without daily injections, people with Type 1 Diabetes won’t survive.

Diabetes seriously increases your risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Even when glucose levels are under control, diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, but the risks are even greater if blood sugar is not well controlled. At least 65% of people with diabetes die of some form of heart or blood vessel disease. If you have diabetes, it's extremely important to work with your healthcare provider to manage it and control any other risk factors you can.
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Some scientists have noted a relationship between heart disease risk and stress in a person's life. The connection is thought to be related to how stress may affect established risk factors. For example, people under stress may overeat, start smoking or smoke more than they otherwise would.
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Drinking too much alcohol can raise blood pressure, cause heart failure and lead to stroke. It can contribute to high triglycerides, cancer and other diseases, and produce irregular heartbeats. It contributes to obesity, alcoholism, suicide and accidents. Although the risk of heart disease in people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol (an average of one drink for women or two drinks for men per day) is lower than in nondrinkers, it's not recommended that non-drinkers start using alcohol or that drinkers increase the amount they drink.
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About 82% of people who die of heart disease are 65 or older. At older ages, women who have heart attacks are more likely than men are to die from them within a few weeks.
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Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women do, and they have attacks earlier in life. Even after menopause, when women's death rate from heart disease increases, it's not as great as men's.
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Children of parents with heart disease are more likely to develop it themselves. African Americans have more severe high blood pressure than Caucasians and a higher risk of heart disease. Heart disease risk is also higher among Mexican Americans, American Indians, native Hawaiians and some Asian Americans. This is partly due to higher rates of obesity and diabetes. Most people with a strong family history of heart disease have one or more other risk factors. Just as you can't control your age, sex and race, you can't control your family history. Therefore, it's even more important to treat and control any other risk factors you have.
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