The AHA (American Heart Association) has updated a report in early 2006, with alarming statistics regarding heart disease and stroke related to the need to lower cholesterol. It seems that more than 500,000 deaths occur every year as a result of a heart attack as some type of heart disease causes 1 in every 5 deaths. It appears that 40 percent of all people who have gone through some form of heart attack will die from it. Additionally, the report indicated that more than 50 percent of people who have heart disease also suffer from high blood cholesterol levels (total cholesterol above 200 mg/dl) and 17 percent having extremely high blood cholesterol levels (more than 240 mg/dl).

Simple math will show us that more than two thirds of people with high cholesterol levels (more than 200 mg/dl) will be able to reduce the risk of having heart disease, heart attacks ad death scientifically by simply lowering their cholesterol levels.

The AHA report also indicates the connection between physical activity and heart disease. It’s apparent that regular exercise can indeed lower the risk of having heart disease, by lowering LDL cholesterol (known as the bad cholesterol that builds up into artery walls) and raising HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol that cleanses the arteries from excess LDL cholesterol) as statistically only 30 percent of the people with heart disease had incorporated some form of physical activity into their daily routines and 23% of people with heart disease also had significantly low readings of HDL cholesterol (below 40 mg/dl).

Because high cholesterol levels, especially high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol levels, contribute to atherosclerosis (the narrowing and hardening of the arteries) they can, in fact, dramatically increase the risk for having some sort of heart disease which can lead to fatal heart attacks. Therefore reducing cholesterol will lower the risk for heart attacks. High blood pressure and diabetes are additional factors that impact the risk for heart disease and need to be managed, in addition to high cholesterol levels that all need to be addressed and treated properly to reduce the strain on the heart leading to heart attacks. This all can be achieved naturally, through a well-balanced low in cholesterol diet, supplementation and regular exercise.