LEARN HOW EVERYDAY LIFESTYLE
CHOICES AFFECT LONGTERM WELLNESS
C
hole sterol*
BY JOEL WARNER
GOODSHOOT / PHOTOLIBRARY
iIt began as a medical mystery. In the 1920s, cardiovascular disease became the number-one cause of death in the United States. No ne understood why. In 1948, the
U.S. Public Health Service com-
missioned the Framingham Heart
Study, an ambitious 50-year
study involving thousands of
people living in Framingham,
Massachusetts. A breakthrough
discovery happened 13 years into
the study, in 1961: Scientists
found that an overabundance of
cholesterol—a soft, waxy sub-
stance that the body produces,
which also occurs naturally in
many foods—could lead to
clogged arteries and, eventually,
severe cardiovascular problems.
