Cholesterol and Human Health

Abstract

Cholesterol plays a major role in human heart health and high cholesterol is a leading risk factor for human cardiovascular disease such as coronary heart disease and stroke. There are 102.3 million American adults who have total blood cholesterol values of 200 mg/dl and higher, and about 41.3 million. Cholesterol can be good (high-density lipoprotein) or bad (low-density lipoprotein) to the cardiovascular system. For the total cholesterol in blood: less than 200 mg/dl is desirable level, 200 to 239 mg/dl is the borderline high for heart disease, and 240 mg/dl and above is High blood cholesterol. A person with this level of 240 mg/dl or above has more than twice the risk of heart disease as someone whose cholesterol is below 200 mg/dl. Statin drugs are very effective for lowering LDL cholesterol levels and have few immediate short-term side effects. Some bacteria can change cholesterol in food to coprostanol that cannot be readily absorbed by the body and some oral bacteria such as Lactobacillus acidophilus have been commercial available for the cholesterol lowering. (The Journal of American Science. 2006;2(1):46-50).