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Cholesterol testing may help reduce the risk stroke

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

Cholesterol testing may be an important part of determining an individual's risk factors for several serious illness, including heart disease and stroke. Elevated levels of cholesterol may make these conditions - which take years off a patient's life expectancy - more likely.

In fact, a recent study published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association found that complications following a stroke can deprive a patient of an average of two full years of healthy life.

Cholesterol testing may help individuals avoid stroke by assessing their risk of blood vessel blockage, the main cause of stroke. Those who are at high risk can make lifestyle changes that may help them avoid suffering a stroke.

Keun-Sik Hong, who led the study, said that showing people the concrete dangers of stroke in terms of loss of healthy years may help them understand the importance of making these lifestyle changes.

"This study delineates the burden of post-stroke complications with a more comparable and more understandable scale - healthy life years lost," Hong said.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Americans, killing nearly 140,000 people each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.