Hypercholesterolemia Demographics

Hypercholesterolemia Demographics

High blood cholesterol levels are largely an adult health problem. Women in the United States before menopause usually have lower blood cholesterol levels than men of the same age. As women and men age, however, their blood cholesterol levels rise until about sixty to sixty-five years of age. After about age fifty, women often have higher total choles- terol levels than men of the same age.

Race and ethnicity appear to affect the rates of hypercholesterolemia in the United States. According to a government health survey carried out

Cross section of an artery around the heart. The inside is coated with plaque, making the opening smaller.

in the 1990s, Caucasian adults are more likely (19 percent) to have high blood cholesterol levels than Hispanics (15 percent) or African Americans (16 percent).

Other risk factors for high blood cholesterol include:

• Smoking. Smoking damages the walls of the coronary arteries, making it easier for plaques to form. It also lowers the level of HDL cholesterol.

• Obesity.

• A high-fat diet. Such high-fat foods as red meat, eggs, and full-fat milk and cheese raise blood cholesterol levels.

• Lack of exercise. Exercise helps to raise HDL levels and lower LDL levels.

• High blood pressure. Like smoking, high blood pressure damages the walls of the coronary arteries.

• Diabetes. High levels of blood sugar raise LDL levels and lower HDL levels.

• Family history of heart disease. A parent or sibling who developed heart disease before age fifty-five places a person with high cholesterol levels at a greater than average risk of developing heart disease.

• Emotional stress. Several studies have shown that high stress levels for long periods of time raise blood cholesterol levels.