Total Cholesterol Levels
High Cholesterol Symptoms
Raising Hdl
Methods For Lowering Ldl Levels
Triglycerides Exercise
Cholesterol
HDL LDL
ways to control high cholesterol
For those who did now know, our bodies have both good cholesterol and bad cholesterol. How do you measure your cholesterol, and what is the right proportion that should be maintained to stay healthy? The goal of using cholesterol lowering medication is to reduce the concentration of LDL, since it is the most harmful of cholesterol types; also to decrease triglycerides, and to maintain or increase HDL as it works to lower the risk of cardiovascular diseases. This cholesterol is known as the HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins) and this is the good type of cholesterol.
lower triglyceride recipes
Many, when they hear the word cholesterol, immediately think about heart attacks, strokes, and coronary heart disease, while television commercials remind us that our cholesterol levels may be at a point that is risky and encourage us to seek treatment. This is a great investment for the entire family, everyone from the eldest to the youngest members will enjoy using the cholesterol monitor, and at the same time it will help improve their awareness of the subject and their health. With a healthy lifestyle, your heart and brain will be able to get the blood they need and you will be one step closer to living a longer, healthier life. It might take a little work, and it might not be easy at first, but this is one New Years resolution that will bring great rewards for many years to come. However, too much of a good thing can have the opposite effect; in fact, elevated levels of the wrong cholesterol can jeopardize ones health and may lead to a stroke or heart attack.
The waxy, fatlike substance known as cholesterol is necessary for the body to function properly. Cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body naturally have cholesterol including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines and heart. Cholesterol helps your body to produce many hormones such as Vitamin D and the bile acids that are required to digest fat. However, only a small amount of cholesterol is necessary to achieve these results. Too much cholesterol in your bloodstream can cause the excess to be deposited in the arteries which narrows and blocks the arteries causes the signs and symptoms of heart disease.
When cholesterol is deposited in the walls of the arteries that supply your heart with nutrients and oxygen it results in coronary heart disease. The heart depends on these oxygen and nutrients just like any muscles. When the coronary arteries harden or calcify and narrow then it can cause chest pain. There are less severe cases of narrowing with is caused by a fatty plaque. Although this unstable plaque can rupture which can cause a clot or no blood flow and result in a heart attack.
You can check for high cholesterol with a simple blood test. It is not enough to just know your total cholesterol level. Rather you need a complete lipid profile which measures your LDL, total cholesterol, HDL and triglycerides. It is recommended that individuals have these blood tests performed every five years since a fluctuation in levels can occur rapidly. This way you can catch high cholesterol early enough and begin treatment through lifestyle changes to improve your heart condition.
Causes
High cholesterol can be caused by several drugs and diseases but most of the time high cholesterol results from a high-fat diet and inherited risk factors. A doctor can help rule out causes such as under active thyroid, kidney or liver disease. Then once you know what causes the problem you can focus on reversing it if your high cholesterol is related to a drug or disease.
Your genes play a large part in determining how high your LDL or bad cholesterol is by affecting how fast this cholesterol is made and removed from the blood. Familial hypercholesterolemia is one type of high cholesterol that is inherited and affects about one in every five hundred individuals. Even without a specific genetic condition, genes play are large role in influencing high cholesterol.
High cholesterol can be affected modestly when it comes to excess weight. You can lower your cholesterol level by losing weight. Weight loss is very beneficial to help with lowering triglycerides and raising your good cholesterol levels. This is why regular exercise or activity is important.
Women will generally have a lower total cholesterol before menopause when compared to men of the same age. Blood cholesterol levels raise as women and men age until they reach about sixty to sixty-five years of age. Women often have higher cholesterol levels than men after about the age of fifty.