{"id":26064,"date":"2019-09-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/09\/are-you-one-of-the-more-than-100-million-american-adults-with-high-cholesterol\/"},"modified":"2020-01-06T19:22:26","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T19:22:26","slug":"are-you-one-of-the-more-than-100-million-american-adults-with-high-cholesterol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tmc.edu\/news\/2019\/09\/are-you-one-of-the-more-than-100-million-american-adults-with-high-cholesterol\/","title":{"rendered":"Are you one of the more than 100 million American adults with high cholesterol?"},"content":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s known as a silent killer, but high cholesterol doesn\u2019t have to go undetected. A simple blood test, known as a lipid panel, can determine if an individual has dangerous cholesterol levels and if that risk could lead to a sudden heart attack or stroke.<\/p>\n
The test could save your life. And this September, observed each year as National Cholesterol Education Month<\/a>, could serve as your annual reminder to get tested.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t feel cholesterol in your bloodstream, so there\u2019s no way to sense if it is high or if it\u2019s low. You don\u2019t even know if you\u2019re building up plaques. What you feel is when you have a heart attack, and that\u2019s very late in the disease process,\u201d said\u00a0Christie Mitchell Ballantyne, M.D.<\/a>, cardiology chief for the department of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine<\/a>. \u201cYou could have had high cholesterol for 60 years and be building up plaque, and then one of the plaques ruptures or develops a blood clot, blocks off the arteries, and then you have a heart attack. Unfortunately, no matter how in tune you are with your body, you can\u2019t know what your cholesterol level is unless you get it checked.\u201d<\/p>\n