Cholesterol, Cholesterol Levels and Heart Attack Causes

Cardiology, Coronary Disease, Diabetes Lab Tests, High Cholesterol, Medicine 1 Comment

What is the importance of cholesterol on your health? Does high cholesterol cause heart attacks? How can you estimate your chances of having a heart attack, and what can be done to prevent one? What are heart attack causes? In Doctablet’s second animated novel our professor goes on a time traveling adventure to help answer these important questions!

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Why do we worry about cholesterol?

Why is it we worry so much about cholesterol levels? The professor has been hard at work trying to research this… Does high cholesterol cause heart attacks? It says here bad cholesterol is produced by our bodies. So how can it be that something we make naturally leads to heart attacks?  Heart attacks are the number one reason why both men and women die, this crosses all boundaries of race and ethnicity.  In the United States, someone has a heart attack every 34 seconds and every minute someone dies of a heart related event. Heart attacks kill more people than ALL forms of cancer combined.  Heart attacks are very common. Unfortunately, this fact goes largely unnoticed by the public.


Heart attacks causes more deaths than any other condition.
Heart attack causes: Bad cholesterol is a risk factor
Heart attack causes include age, smoking, high colesterol, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and lack of exercise

This looks like a real crisis. We will activate the Doctablet Time machine and travel to a time when there was hardly any heart attacks to see if we can find answers that can explain what is happening to the human race!


Humans evolved in nature. Our bodies are designed to be active all day and our digestive system was created to accept foods we gather directly from nature. To help understand heart attack causes better, the Doctablet professor will activate his HEALTH RAY VISION!! When he looks at the cavemen he notices: The people are young. They have clear lungs! No pollution in the air, no cigarettes to smoke! Health ray vision shows his good cholesterol is high and his bad cholesterol is low. His blood pressure is completely normal, he eats no salt! His diet is rich in fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts! He exercises everyday, and his muscles are strong! Conclusion: His chances of having a heart attack are very low.

Now lets go back to the lab and travel to a time when heart attacks are VERY common! THE MODERN ERA! Modern human beings behave in a very different way than what we were designed to; most of us don’t exercise, eat poorly, and many people smoke. “UFF”, our professor can barely fly here because there so much pollution!! Let’s ACTIVATE HEALTH RAY VISION. This man is older. Health ray vision shows his cholesterol levels: good cholesterol is low and his bad cholesterol is very high. HE IS SMOKING!! His diet is very poor in fruits and vegetables and rich in sugar. He does not exercise at all! He sits all day and barely walks! Conclusion: His chances of having a heart attack are very high!! AMAZING!!! Now lets get back to the office and put all this together!


High chances of having a heart attack are predicted by high bad cholesterol, low good cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, a poor diet, diabetes, and being sedentary.

What should my cholesterol levels be?
Depends on your chances of having a heart attack

After that adventure, it is all making sense to the Professor.
His research shows:
Bad cholesterol levels is one of the heart attack causes we worry about.
  • Cholesterol is made by the body!

  • Like our modern man, a poor diet and too little exercise makes cholesterol go up.

  • If you have an unhealthy lifestyle and have high cholesterol, your chance of having a heart attack goes up over time.

As you age, the chance of you have of having a heart attack rises. Age is the most important part of your risk. Stopping cigarettes can cut your chances of dying by half. AVOID diabetes if your doctor has told you that you have pre-diabetes or make sure you are TREATING it if you have it already. High blood pressure gives you a higher risk of having a heart attack, treating it lowers this chance.  Lowering your cholesterol offers you a way to treat your total risk of a heart attack.

Use the professors experience to understand the importance of cholesterol in your body. As you age, your risk is of having a heart attack is expected to climb. Manage this risk by controlling your blood pressure and diabetes, stopping cigarettes and treating your cholesterol.

About the Author
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Jose Taveras M.D. F.A.C.C.

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Dr Taveras works as a cardiologist caring for spanish speaking communities in the Bronx. He completed a dual residency in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and then served as chief resident of internal medicine at the St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center of New York. He went on to specialize in cardiovascular disease at NYU Winthrop Hospital , under the mentorship of Dr. Kevin Marzo, chief of Cardiology at Winthrop. He is board certified in both internal medicine and cardiovascular diseases, and sub specializes in echocardiography, nuclear cardiology and computed tomography of the heart. Apart from his work in community outreach, Dr. Taveras' career focuses on innovation and technology. Dr. Taveras is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology. 

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Last Modified: Nov 15, 2020 @ 3:08 pm

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