Heart disease is related to blood pressure (among other things). Blood pressure (above normal) will cause damage to the inside walls of the arteries in the heart. The damage is usually repaired body by the body but sometimes the body will also make a patch on the damage using cholesterol and plaque floating in the blood. If you have high blood pressure it damages the arteries, if you have high cholesterol it increases the chances of the artery repair being patched with cholesterol instead of being properly repaired. Think of it like a pot hole in the street. It can be quickly patched which usually doesn't last long or they can completely replace the section of damaged area. This patch on the artery wall will grow and grow as more cholesterol attaches itself to the repair until the artery is closed off (heart attack). There can be many such patches in numerous arteries at one time (double, triple bypass). You can reverse this process but it takes a lot of work. You can also prevent this problem. I did it so I know it can be done with no surgery. High blood pressure can also cause a stroke!!