Cholesterol can be linked to many diseases, but what most people don't know is that cholesterol is actually essential for the existence of all animal life. Without it, all animals, including humans, would cease to exist. Without a sufficient amount of cholesterol in an animal's formation, birth defects occur because the fetus does not have enough cholesterol to function normally. There is actually “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol. “Healthy” cholesterol is approximately 1,000 mg that the body needs to function, whether produced by the body itself or consumed through food. “Bad” cholesterol is all the excess ingested through food that our body can neither use nor digest. With nowhere to go, it builds up in the body, leading to many heart diseases. Unlike most hydrocarbons, cholesterol has no other name; it's just cholesterol. The formula for cholesterol is C27H46O and the structure is shown on the cover of this document. The “-ol” in cholesterol implies that it is part of the hydroxyl or alcohol functional group. Being part of the alcohol functional group means that one of the parent hydrocarbons has been replaced by the alcohol –OH functional group. Cholesterol has three main functions: it coats our cells, produces the body's acids to digest food in the gut, and allows the body to make vitamin D and hormones like estrogen in women and testosterone in men. . Without cholesterol, these functions could not exist and without these functions, human life would not exist. Although small amounts of cholesterol are important for human life, excessive amounts can be detrimental. High cholesterol levels can lead to problems such as coronary heart disease, stroke, stroke, or stroke. Middle of paper, “Eating moderate amounts of cholesterol will keep doctors away!” » Works Cited Chemistry the Central Science 11th Edition (p. 1072). (2009). 25. Upper Saddle River: Pearson. Diseases and conditions. (nd). Cleveland Clinic. Accessed January 5, 2014, from http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/cholesterol/hic_diseases_linked_to_high_cholesterol.aspxNew Releases. (nd). Understanding cholesterol: the good, the bad and the necessary. Accessed January 5, 2014, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Understanding_Cholesterol.htmStructural Formula. (nd). Structural formula. Retrieved January 5, 2014, from http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/molecules/cholb.html What process does the liver go through to remove toxins? (nd). Cornell College. Accessed January 5, 2014, from http://people.cornellcollege.edu/bnowakthompson/pdfs/liverDetox.pdf