Cholesterol
Cholesterol (C27H46O) is a compound made in livers for use as a building block for making animal tissue, assists in bile production, allows the body to make vitamin D using sunlight, and aids in the production of sex hormones.[1] It is a type of lipid called a steroid and is carried around the body in the bloodstream by high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL).[2]
HDLs finds and carries old and unneeded cholesterol in the bloodstream to the liver for reprocessing.[3][4]
LDLs carries cholesterol into the cells.[4]
Inflammation in blood vessels can cause cholesterol to accumulate to repair the inflammation. This accumulation can cause the vessels to narrow and can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and other vascular diseases.[2][4][3]