What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a naturally occurring fatty substance. You need a certain amount of cholesterol to stay healthy — it is an important building block of the cells in your body and is used to make some hormones — but too much cholesterol is bad for you and can lead to serious problems such as heart attack and stroke.

	Up to 80% of the cholesterol in your body is produced by your liver. Your diet may be responsible for 20% or more of the cholesterol in your blood.

Am I at risk?
Anyone can develop high cholesterol but it is more common if you:

	From the age of 50 years old, more women than men have cholesterol levels that are considered to be too high.

What should I do now?
If you think that you might have high cholesterol then it is very important that you get your cholesterol level checked, even if you feel fine. This is because people with high cholesterol are at risk of developing more serious problems, such as clogging of the arteries (also known as atherosclerosis). Clogged
arteries can cause heart attacks and strokes. Your doctor can check your
cholesterol level with a quick and simple blood test.

You can learn more about what to expect when you visit your doctor here.