What Is High Blood Cholesterol?

Cholesterol

What Is High Blood Cholesterol?

Cholesterol levels are determined through chemical analysis
of a blood sample taken from a finger prick or from a vein
in the arm.

Home cholesterol kits, first approved in 1993, test only for
total cholesterol levels but are as accurate as tests done
in a doctor's office, says Steven Gutman, M.D., director of
FDA's division of clinical laboratory devices.

"These tests can give a consumer very valuable
information when screening for high cholesterol," he says.
"But they shouldn't be considered substitutes for a test
conducted in a doctor's office."

He adds that if test results are elevated, consumers should
see a doctor right away for a more refined blood analysis.

The National Cholesterol Education Program considers
cholesterol testing in a doctor's office to be the preferred
way because the patient can get advice immediately about the
meaning of the results and what to do.

Besides determining total cholesterol levels, doctors often
order a lipoprotein profile that shows the amounts of LDL,
HDL, and another type of blood fat called triglycerides.

This information gives doctors a better idea of heart disease
risk and helps guide any treatment. Cholesterol levels are
measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).

The National Cholesterol Education Program developed the
following classifications for people over age 20 who do not
have heart disease:

" Desirable blood cholesterol--
Total blood cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL; LDL is lower
than 130 mg/dL. "

Borderline high cholesterol--Total level is between 200 and
239 mg/dL or LDL is 130 to 159 mg/dL. " High blood cholesterol
--Total level is greater than 240 mg/dL or LDL
is 160 mg/dL or higher.

For patients with heart disease, LDL above 100 mg/dL is too
high. In addition, an HDL level less than 35 mg/dL is
considered low and increases the risk of heart disease.

The main goal of cholesterol treatment is to lower LDL in
people without heart disease. If the LDL level is in the
"high" category and fewer than two other risk factors for
heart disease are present, the goal is an LDL level lower
than 160 mg/dL.

If two or more risk factors are present, the goal is less than
130 mg/dL. If a patient already has heart disease, LDL levels
should be 100 mg/dL or less.

By reducing LDL, heart disease patients may prevent future heart
attacks, prolong their lives, and slow down or even reverse
cholesterol buildup in the arteries, according to the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute documentation.

Check it out for yourself.



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How to fight High Cholesterol & Heart Disease?

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Every now and again it's important to lighten up and find some humor in our everyday life. Check out the following video.




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When Blood Cholesterol Becomes a Problem

Cholesterol

Two types of lipoproteins and their quantity in the blood are main factors in heart disease risk:

• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)--This "bad" cholesterol is the form in which cholesterol is carried into the blood and is the main cause of harmful fatty buildup in arteries. The higher the LDL cholesterol level in the blood, the greater the heart disease risk.

• High-density lipoprotein (HDL)--This "good" cholesterol carries blood cholesterol back to the liver, where it can be eliminated. HDL helps prevent a cholesterol buildup in blood vessels.

Low HDL levels increase heart disease risk.
One of the primary ways LDL cholesterol levels can become too high in blood is through eating too much of two nutrients: saturated fat, which is found mostly in animal products, and cholesterol, found only in animal products. Saturated fat raises LDL levels more than anything else in the diet (see "Food for Thought").

Several other factors also affect blood cholesterol levels:

• Heredity--High cholesterol often runs in families. Even though specific genetic causes have been identified in only a minority of cases, genes still play a role in influencing blood cholesterol levels.

• Weight--Excess weight tends to increase blood cholesterol levels. Losing weight may help lower levels.

• Exercise--Regular physical activity may not only lower LDL cholesterol, but it may increase levels of desirable HDL.

• Age and gender--Before menopause, women tend to have total cholesterol levels lower than men at the same age. Cholesterol levels naturally rise as men and women age. Menopause is often associated with increases in LDL cholesterol in women.

• Stress--Studies have not shown stress to be directly linked to cholesterol levels. But experts say that because people sometimes eat fatty foods to console themselves when under stress, this can cause higher blood cholesterol.
Though high total and LDL cholesterol levels, along with low HDL cholesterol, can increase heart disease risk, they are among several other risk factors.

These include cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and physical inactivity. If any of these is present in addition to high blood cholesterol, the risk of heart disease is even greater.

The good news is that all these can be brought under control either by changes in lifestyle--such as diet, losing weight, or an exercise program--or quitting a tobacco habit. Drugs also may be necessary in some people. Sometimes one change can help bring several risk factors under control.

For example, weight loss can reduce blood cholesterol levels, help control diabetes, and lower high blood pressure.

But some risk factors cannot be controlled. These include age (45 years or older for men and 55 years or older for women) and family history of early heart disease (father or brother stricken before age 55; mother or sister stricken before age 65).

But, we will cover this further in my next installment. For now take care and remember the life yo sve by making changes may be your own.

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