There are common medical and surgical procedures to lowering cholesterol, which your doctor may recommend for you, in case your cholesterol levels have reached an extreme critical level that practically puts you in serious health risk. These medical procedures are aimed at removing the cholesterol build up in the arteries as an emergency act to prevent heart disease or stroke.

Lowering cholesterol using these medical procedures often involved surgery, which can be very intrusive and traumatic for the patient and most people who are prone to have high blood cholesterol levels but are aware of their condition and monitor it carefully can most likely avoid it.

When cholesterol and fat accumulate in artery walls, plague is formed which narrows and hardens the arteries. This condition is called atherosclerosis, where blood has difficulty to flow and distribute oxygen to the heart and brain.

If the blockage is mild, where blood can flow to the heart but not freely, a medical procedure called Angioplasty can be performed. This is a procedure where a balloon catheter is inserted into blood vessels (coronary arteries that lead blood to the heart), which are blocked with plaque build up. The procedure begins with the patient lying and given an anesthetic. Then the balloon catheters are inserted in an artery where the blockage to the heart was identified (using an x-ray). The catheters are then inflated; opening the clogging in the artery and restoring blood flow to the heart. (Note that the artery’s elasticity may no be able to go through such procedure several times).

Another medical procedure to lower cholesterol that is more invasive than Angioplasty is a laser “melting” of the cholesterol build up in the arteries. By dissolving the hard plaque in the arteries, the HDL cholesterol (low density lipoprotein) also referred to as the good cholesterol, is given the opportunity to cleanse and remove the LDL cholesterol from the blood, thus lower the “bad” LDL cholesterol.

Medical procedures to lower cholesterol are often very invasive and can be avoided if one takes the necessary precautions to manage his or her cholesterol levels, by monitoring and testing cholesterol regularly and if needed stepping into a healthy and natural cholesterol management regime.