High cholesterol is the best known of all the many threats to a healthy heart. When excess amounts of this waxy, fat-like substance build up along the walls of the arteries, you face a dramatically higher risk of a complete blockage, leading to a heart attack or stroke.

At normal levels, cholesterol is not a bad thing. On the contrary, it's an essential raw material used by the body to build cell walls and produce hormones such as estrogen and testosterone. The body produ...more