Too much of a good thing. That's what you have if you have high
cholesterol — one of the major risk factors for heart disease.
Cholesterol is needed by every cell of your body. But your risk
of heart disease goes up considerably if you have too much of this
waxy, fatty substance in your blood. If your cholesterol stays
high, it can build up in your arteries and block the flow of blood
to your heart, which can lead to a heart attack.
High cholesterol causes as many as half of all deaths each year
from heart disease, the nation's No. 1 killer of both men and
women. To control it, you may need to take a cholesterol-lowering
drug.
