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Risk factors

By Mayo Clinic staff

You're more likely to have high cholesterol that can lead to heart disease if you have any of these risk factors:

  • Smoking. Cigarette smoking damages the walls of your blood vessels, making them likely to accumulate fatty deposits. Smoking may also lower your level of HDL, or "good," cholesterol.
  • Obesity. Having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater puts you at risk of high cholesterol.
  • Poor diet. Foods that are high in cholesterol, such as red meat and full-fat dairy products, will increase your total cholesterol. Eating saturated fat, found in animal products, and trans fats, found in some commercially baked cookies and crackers, also can raise your cholesterol level.
  • Lack of exercise. Exercise helps boost your body's HDL "good" cholesterol while lowering your LDL "bad" cholesterol. Not getting enough exercise puts you at risk of high cholesterol.
  • High blood pressure. Increased pressure on your artery walls damages your arteries, which can speed the accumulation of fatty deposits.
  • Diabetes. High blood sugar contributes to higher LDL cholesterol and lower HDL cholesterol. High blood sugar also damages the lining of your arteries.
  • Family history of heart disease. If a parent or sibling developed heart disease before age 55, high cholesterol levels place you at a greater than average risk of developing heart disease.
Complications Causes
References
  1. Why cholesterol matters. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/WhyCholesterolMatters/Why-Cholesterol-Matters_UCM_001212_Article.jsp. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  2. What is cholesterol? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hbc/. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  3. Third report of the Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). Bethesda, Md.: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  4. Arsenault BJ, et al. Beyond low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: Respective contributions of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels, triglycerides, and the total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio to coronary heart disease risk in apparently healthy men and women. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2009;55:35.
  5. Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents. Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents: Summary report. Pediatrics. 2011;128:S213.
  6. Drug therapy for cholesterol. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/PreventionTreatmentofHighCholesterol/Drug-Therapy-for-Cholesterol_UCM_305632_Article.jsp. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  7. Creider JC, et al. Niacin: Another look at an underutilized lipid-lowering medication. Nature Reviews Endocrinology. 2012;8:517.
  8. Samuel S, et al. Estimating health and economic benefits from using prescription omega-3 fatty acids in patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia. American Journal of Cardiology. 2011;108:691.
  9. Cooking for lower cholesterol. American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/Cholesterol/PreventionTreatmentofHighCholesterol/Cooking-for-Lower-Cholesterol_UCM_305630_Article.jsp. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  10. Huffman KM, et al. Exercise effects on lipids in persons with varying dietary patterns - does diet matter if they exercise? American Heart Journal. 2012;164:117.
  11. Chapman MJ, et al. Triglyceride-rich lipoproteins and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease: Evidence and guidance for management. European Heart Journal. 2011;32:1345.
  12. Natural medicines in clinical management of hyperlipidemia. Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. http://www.naturaldatabase.com. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  13. Red yeast rice. University of Maryland Medical Center. http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/red-yearice-000323.htm. Accessed Dec. 13, 2012.
  14. Miller M, et al. Triglycerides and cardiovascular disease: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2011;123:2292.
DS00178 Feb. 12, 2013

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