High cholesterol
| Hypercholesterolemia | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | hypercholesterolaemia, elevated cholesterol |
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| Formula structure of cholesterol | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Cardiology |
| ICD-10 | E78.0 |
| ICD-9-CM | 272.0 |
| DiseasesDB | 6226 |
| MedlinePlus | 000403 |
| eMedicine | med/1073 |
| MeSH | D006937 |
Hypercholesterolemia, also called dyslipidemia, is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is a form of high blood lipids and "hyperlipoproteinemia" (elevated levels of lipoproteins in the blood).
Elevated levels of non-HDL cholesterol and LDL in the blood may be a consequence of diet, obesity, inherited (genetic) diseases (such as LDL receptor mutations in familial hypercholesterolemia), or the presence of other diseases such as diabetes and an underactive thyroid.
Cholesterol is one of three major classes of lipids which all animal cells use to construct their membranes and is thus manufactured by all animal cells. Plant cells do not manufacture cholesterol. It is also the precursor of the steroid hormones and bile acids. Since cholesterol is insoluble in water, it is transported in the blood plasma within protein particles (lipoproteins). Lipoproteins are classified by their density: very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), intermediate density lipoprotein (IDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL). All the lipoproteins carry cholesterol, but elevated levels of the lipoproteins other than HDL (termed non-HDL cholesterol), particularly LDL-cholesterol, are associated with an increased risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. In contrast, higher levels of HDL cholesterol are protective.
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