GREENSBORO, N.C. — According to the CDC, nearly 25 million adults in our country have high cholesterol levels.
While cholesterol serves important functions in our bodies, doctors say too much is not good for our health, especially if left untreated.
One Greensboro man knows about the condition all too well.
Andy Koren, the Senior Rabbi at Temple Emanuel Greensboro was diagnosed with high cholesterol. He says his family has a history of developing low amounts of good cholesterol.
His grandfather passed away from a heart attack at age 68 and his father died from heart complications at the same age. Rabbi Koren is in his late 50's and says once his levels started to not look good heart health became top of mind.
He says his lipid specialist took him through genetic testing and put him on medication to help treat the condition.
"Our emeritus rabbi, Rabbi Fred Guttman he had a really good piece of advice which is that rabbi's clergy we aren't the only ones, but we are in high-stress jobs and so it's really important once a year to check in with a cardiologist. So, in addition to your primary physician also enlist in a specialist who can talk to you about heart health and like so many things in life you get advice, but this is one that I am really glad I acted on," Koren said.
Rabbi Koren said medication has been instrumental in treating his high cholesterol as well as a healthy diet and exercising more.
Dr. Kenneth Hilty a Cardiologist with Cone Health, helps treat patients with high cholesterol.
He says in general people won't know if they have the condition unless they get tested.
"You probably should get testing, it's recommended as early as in your 20's especially if you have a family history of heart disease and high cholesterol. And really the key is the earlier you can identify risks and treat it the better your long-term outcome will be," Kenneth said.