Over time, and scientists continue to learn about heart disease to learn, it is clear that over the last few years that inflammation in the body (NOT cholesterol levels) is what causes plaque build up in arteries and ultimately heart disease. Inflammation can be caused by many personal factors such as stress, smoking, viruses, smooth consumption and / or hydrogenated fats, the imbalance of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats to omega-3 polyunsaturated fats in the diet, more refined sugar in foods, etc.
Here is a brief report of how it works in general. Cholesterol is a healing substance in the body (and many other important functions), and response to arterial inflammation, which will be performed in combination with other substances to form "plaque" as a healing agent in the lining of arteries.
Levels of inflammation in your body can be measured by what we have tests CRP (C-reactive protein). The accuracy of this test is still room for improvement, because it can change depending on time and other factors, but it is a better indicator of heart disease risk than cholesterol tests (which is almost useless for determining the risk of heart disease).