If your blood contains too much LDL cholesterol (cholesterol carried by low-density lipoprotein), it's known as high cholesterol. When left untreated, high cholesterol can lead to many health problems, including heart attack or stroke. High cholesterol typically causes no symptoms.

Having high blood cholesterol raises the risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death, and for stroke, the fifth leading cause of death.What is high cholesterol? High cholesterol is when there's too much bad cholesterol (LDL) and/or not enough good cholesterol (HDL) in your blood.