Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting Heart disease. High Blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for Heart disease. A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease. In fact, the higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having a Heart Attack. Heart disease is the number one killer of women and men in the United States. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million people die from heart disease.