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Title: The Basics of Cholesterol
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Published: Jun 10, 2014
Author: staff
Post Date: 2014-06-10 05:46:41 by Tatarewicz
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Views: 88
Comments: 5

WebMD... Have you been diagnosed with high cholesterol? Is lowering your cholesterol a goal? The first step is to find out what cholesterol is.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance made in the liver and other cells. It’s also found in certain foods, such as dairy products, eggs, and meat. Did You Know?

Under the Affordable Care Act, many health insurance plans will cover preventive care services, including blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, at no cost to you. Learn more.

Health Insurance Center

Your body needs some cholesterol to function properly. Its cell walls, also known as membranes, need cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help you digest fat. But the body only needs a limited amount of cholesterol. When there’s too much, health problems, such as heart disease, may develop.

Health Check: Is High Cholesterol Putting Your Health at Risk? Cholesterol and Heart Disease

When there’s too much cholesterol is present, plaque -- a thick, hard substance -- may form in your arteries. When plaque deposits form, the build-up narrows the space through which blood flows. Over time, this buildup causes hardening of the arteries, also known as atherosclerosis. This can lead to heart disease.

When not enough blood with oxygen gets to the heart muscle, you may have chest pain called angina. If the blood supplying part of the heart with oxygen is completely blocked, you will have a heart attack.

Types of Cholesterol

Cholesterol travels through the blood attached to a protein. The combination protein and cholesterol is called a lipoprotein. There are three types of lipoproteins in your blood: high density, low density, and very low density. The specific type depends on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

Low density lipoproteins (LDL) is also called "bad" cholesterol because it can cause plaque buildup on the walls of arteries. The more LDL there is in the blood, the greater the risk of heart disease. High density lipoproteins (HDL) is also called "good" cholesterol. It helps the body get rid of LDL. Maintaining a higher level of HDL is good. If your HDL level is low your risk of heart disease goes up. Very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) is similar to LDL in that it contains mostly fat and not much protein. Triglycerides, another type of fat, is carried in the blood by VLDL. Excess calories, alcohol, or sugar in your body are converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells throughout your body.

What Factors Affect Cholesterol Levels?

A variety of factors can affect cholesterol levels. They include:

Diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat increase cholesterol levels. To lower your cholesterol level try to reduce the saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet. Weight. In addition to being a risk factor for heart disease, being overweight can also increase cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol. And it can also increase the level of HDL. Exercise. Regular exercise can lower LDL and raise HDL. You should try to be physically active for at least 30 minutes on most days. Age and Gender. As you get older, cholesterol levels rise. Before menopause, women tend to have lower total cholesterol levels than men. After menopause, though, women's LDL levels tend to rise. Diabetes. Poorly controlled diabetes increases cholesterol levels. Having control of your diabetes can cause your cholesterol levels to fall. Heredity. Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families. Other Factors. Certain medications and medical How Much Cholesterol Is Too Much?

Everyone over the age of 20 should get their cholesterol levels measured at least once every five years.

Your doctor may recommend a non-fasting cholesterol test or a fasting cholesterol test. A non-fasting test will show total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. A fasting test, called a lipid profile or a lipoprotein analysis, will measure your LDL, HDL, and total cholesterol. It will also measure triglycerides.

Knowing your cholesterol numbers is important because they are one part of an equation that helps your doctor determine your risk of having a heart problem or a stroke over the next 10 years. Once that risk is known, you and your doctor can work together to come up with a plan for reducing it. Part of that plan may include lowering your level of cholesterol.

How Can I Lower My Cholesterol and Risk of Heart Disease?

A few simple changes can help lower your cholesterol and your risk for heart disease:

Eat low-cholesterol foods. The American Heart Association recommends limiting your average daily cholesterol intake to less than 300 milligrams. If you already have heart disease, you should limit your daily intake to less than 200 milligrams. You can significantly reduce the cholesterol in your diet by avoiding foods high in saturated fat and foods with large amounts of dietary cholesterol. Quit smoking. Smoking lowers HDL ("good") cholesterol. This trend can be reversed if you quit smoking. Exercise. Exercise increases HDL in some people. Even moderate-intensity activities, if done daily, can help control weight, diabetes, and high blood pressure -- all risk factors for heart disease. Take medication your doctor prescribes. Sometimes making changes to your diet and increasing exercise is not enough to bring cholesterol down. You may also need to take a cholesterol-lowering drug.

How Is High Cholesterol Treated?

The main goal in lowering cholesterol is to lower LDL and raise your HDL. There are two key ways to lower cholesterol: eat a heart-healthy diet and take cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Doctors determine your "goals" for lowering LDL based on your chance of having a heart problem or stroke in the next 10 years. To determine that risk, your doctor will consider several factors including:

Your cholesterol numbers Your age Your smoking habits Your blood pressure Your use of blood pressure medicines

The doctor will also consider whether or not you already have heart disease or diabetes.

Once your risk is known, you and your doctor together will work out a strategy for achieving and maintaining a healthy level of cholesterol in your blood. That strategy could focus just on healthy lifestyle choices. But it could also include taking a medicine that will lower cholesterol.

If you are at risk for heart disease and need medicine, your doctor will want your cholesterol to decrease by 30-50%.

What Drugs Are Used to Treat High Cholesterol?

Cholesterol-lowering drugs include:

Statins Niacin Bile-acid resins Fibrates

Of these, statins are the only drugs proven to prevent heart attacks. These medications are most effective when combined with a low-cholesterol diet.

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Cholesterol Assessment:

Reach a Healthy Cholesterol Level

Statin drugs are the main treatment used to lower HDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. These medicines also can raise "good" HDL cholesterol levels. If statin drugs don't work for you or you can't take them because of side effects, your doctor may recommend another drug to lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol.

Make sure you tell your doctor right away if you think you have side effects from your medicines. you should not stop taking any medicine without first talking to your doctor.

Statin Drugs

Current guidelines recommend statin drugs to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease in people who: Already have heart disease or have had a stroke Have an LDL ("bad") cholesterol level of 190 mg/dL or higher Have type 2 diabetes and are ages 40 to 75 Are ages 40 to 75 and have a 10-year heart disease risk of 7.5% or higher (your doctor can use a tool to tell you what your risk is.)

Statin drugs include Crestor (rosuvastatin), Lescol (fluvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin), Mevacor (lovastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), and Zocor (simvastatin). These drugs can lower high LDL levels by 30% to 50% or more, depending on the dose. What dose you take will depend on how low you need to lower your LDL cholesterol level.

These drugs work by slowing your body's cholesterol production and helping the liver remove LDL cholesterol from the blood. Side effects include stomach upset, liver problems, and muscle tenderness. Some foods, such as grapefruits or grapefruit juice, can increase the risks of side effects.

Combination medicines that include a statin are: Advicor (lovastatin plus niacin), Caduet (atorvastatin plus the blood pressure-lowering drug amlodipine), Simcor (niacin and simvastatin), and Vytorin (ezetimibe and simvastatin).

Bile Acid Sequestrants

These drugs include Colestid (colestipol), Prevalite and Questran (cholestyramine), and Welchol (colesevelam). They can be used alone or together with statins or nicotinic acid. The most common side effects include constipation, gas, and upset stomach.

Nicotinic Acid (Niacin)

This form of vitamin B is sold in prescription form as niacin, Niacor, Niaspan, or Slo-Niacin. Nicotinic acid lowers levels of blood fats called triglycerides and raises HDL levels. Side effects include flushing, itching, tingling, and headache.

Fibric Acid

These medicines are also called fibrates. They include Atromid-S (clofibrate); Antara, Fenoglide, Lipofen, Lofibra, TriCor, and Triglide (fenofibrate); Lopid (gemfibrozil); and Trilipix (fenofibric acid). Fibrates are mainly used to lower triglyceride levels and to raise HDL levels. Side effects include nausea, upset stomach, and muscle damage. You should not take Lopid if you are already taking a statin drug because it can make muscle problems more likely.

Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitors

These drugs can be taken alone, such as Zetia (ezetimibe), or together with statins, such as Vytorin (ezetimibe plus simvastatin). They prevent cholesterol from being absorbed in the gut. Side effects may include stomach pain and fatigue.

Omega -3 PUFAs (Such as Lovaza)

This type of fat, which is found in fish oil, lowers triglyceride levels and can raise HDL cholesterol. Side effects include nausea and upset stomach. Give Your Heart Some TLC

Lifestyle changes are one of the most important things doctors recommend to lower LDL cholesterol levels and improve heart health. This kind of TLC (therapeutic lifestyle changes) includes eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, not smoking, and staying at a healthy weight. These changes on their own may be enough to lower cholesterol in some people. Others may also need to take cholesterol-lowering medicine.

Following the TLC diet, exercise, and weight management program could lower your LDL cholesterol levels by 20% to 30%. As a result, you may also need less cholesterol-lowering medicine.

Here are a few lifestyle changes that could help keep your cholesterol in check: Changing Your Diet

Your diet is low in artery-clogging saturated fats found in red meat and butter. That's terrific! Too much saturated fat can raise y LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. Substituting healthy fats can help lower your LDL cholesterol. Good fats are found in fish (salmon, trout, herring), nuts and seeds (walnuts, sunflower seeds), and plant oils (olive oil, canola oil, soybean oil).

Studies show that replacing saturated and trans fats with unsaturated fat lowers LDL cholesterol and may lowerthe risk of heart disease. Eat these healthy fats, along with fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and you can greatly loweryour heart disease risk. Getting more active

Being physically active is another important way to manage cholesterol levels and protect heart health. How much physical activity do you need? Experts recommend at least: 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week OR 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity each week OR A mix of vigorous and moderate aerobic activity

A few tips for meeting exercise guidelines: Aerobic activity is anything that raises your heart rate and breathing rate. It doesn't have to be "exercise." Dancing or pushing a lawn mower count, if you do it for at least 10 minutes. Think of intensity as a scale of effort where 0 is sitting and 10 is working as hard as you can. Moderate intensity would be a 5 or 6 on that scale. Vigorous intensity is a 7 or 8. You can add up short periods of aerobic activity throughout the week to reach the total -- as long as each period of activity is at least 10 minutes long. See your doctor before beginning an exercise program -- especially if you have been inactive, you have been told you have a heart condition, you feel chest pain or discomfort with physical activity, or you have joint or bone problems that get worse with exercise.

You are already meeting the recommendations for weekly aerobic activity. That's great! Keep up the good work.

Experts also recommend muscle-strengthening activities -- such as weight training or using resistance bands -- 2 or more days a week. These activities should work all the major muscle groups: legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms. If you are not already training with weights or resistance bands, consider adding them to your exercise program. You may also want to try new types of aerobic activity from time to time to keep it interesting and stay motivated. Reduce Smoke & Stress, Increase Sleep

Other changes that may help improve your LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels and lower your heart disease risk include: Avoiding secondhand smoke:

It's great that you do not smoke. But secondhand smoke also can harm the heart. Nonsmokers who breathe secondhand smoke are up to 30% more likely to get heart disease. They're also more likely to have a heart attack. If you have a partner, co-workers, or a group of friends who smoke, you should urge them to quit and avoid their smoke until they do quit. Improving sleep:

Good sleep is a must for good health. Not getting enough sleep may raise total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. This may be because not sleeping well could lead to overeating and to eating foods high in saturated fat, which can increase cholesterol.

For some, good sleep habits still don’t do the trick. There may be a medical problem that needs treatment, such as sleep apnea. It’s a condition that briefly pauses breathing repeatedly during the night, interrupting sleep. People with sleep apnea are more likely to have high blood pressure, stroke, and heart failure.

You may be able to improve your sleep -- and your health -- by: Going to bed and waking up at the same times each day Keep your bedroom is quiet, dark, and relaxing Using your bed only for sleeping Not exercising within a few hours of bedtime Avoiding large meals before bedtime Not having any caffeinated drinks after lunch Avoiding stressful activities, such as paying bills, around bedtime

And if you have been snoring at night -- which is a sign of sleep apnea -- you should see a doctor to get tested. Reducing stress:

Stress can come from just about anywhere: Work, home, or even being stuck in a traffic jam. It's not clear whether stress causes heart disease, but it can lead to behaviors that cause or worsen heart problems. When you are under stress, your blood pressure rises, you may overeat, you may exercise less, and you may be more likely to smoke or to have trouble sleeping. You should find ways to de-stress: Take deep breaths, listen to music, exercise, or practice other stress-reduction techniques, such as meditation or yoga. Talk to Your Doctor

Your doctor can help manage your cholesterol, triglycerides, and other risks for heart disease. Work together as a team to improve your health. You can start by asking your doctor what changes you can make to help your heart. Here are some questions to get the conversation going: What are cholesterol and triglycerides, and how can they affect my health? What are my cholesterol and triglyceride levels? How often should I have my cholesterol and triglycerides checked? What changes should I make to my diet and lifestyle? Could something else be causing my high cholesterol levels? Am I a candidate for cholesterol-lowering medicine? How will I know if my medicine and lifestyle changes are working?

Reading List

The Basics of Cholesterol High Cholesterol: What It Can Do To You HDL: The Good Cholesterol

Cholesterol and Artery Plaque Buildup Overweight? Slim Down for Lower Numbers

Tatarewicz  posted on  2014-06-10   6:11:09 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

This is older/conventional thinking about cholesterol, and there's a new line of thinking that says cholesterol levels are not particularly important. The cause of heart disease is inflammation of the arteries, and cholesterol build up is a defence mechanism for that inflammation. Inflammation is caused by excess sugar in the diet, in the form of both sugar and carbs that are converted to sugar.

At least that's the new argument.

Pinguinite  posted on  2014-06-10   13:57:29 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

From Dr Mercola:

One in four Americans over the age of 45 are now taking a statin drug, despite the fact that there are over 900 studies proving their adverse effects, which run the gamut from muscle problems to diabetes and increased cancer risk.

Statins deplete your body of CoQ10, which can have devastating results. If you take statin drugs without taking CoQ10, your health is at serious risk. If you have symptoms of statin damage, such as muscle pain, take anywhere from 200 to 500 mg of CoQ10 or ubiquinol, which is the reduced form. Ubiquinol is the recommended form if you’re over the age of 25. For preventative use, take around 100-200 mg.

Statins also impair the function of all sterols, including cholesterol and vitamin D (which is similar to cholesterol and is produced from cholesterol in your skin), all your sex hormones, cortisone, the dolichols, which are involved in keeping the membranes inside your cells healthy

Odds are greater than 100 to 1 that if you're taking a statin, you don't really need it. The ONLY subgroup that might benefit are those born with a genetic defect called familial hypercholesterolemia, as this makes them resistant to traditional measures of normalizing cholesterol.

Statins are in fact classified as a "pregnancy Category X medication"; meaning, it causes serious birth defects, and should NEVER be used by a woman who is pregnant or planning a pregnancy.

To question is to value the ideal of truth more highly than the loyalties to nation, religion, race, or ideology.

christine  posted on  2014-06-10   20:43:18 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

and there's a new line of thinking that says cholesterol levels are not particularly important.

Half of all heart attacks occur in people who do not have high cholesterol...this has been known for decades.

" If you cannot govern yourself, you will be governed by assholes. " Randge, Poet de Forum, 1/11/11

"Life's tough, and even tougher if you're stupid." --John Wayne

abraxas  posted on  2014-06-10   20:58:33 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

Preventing Holiday Heart Attacks

By Christian Wilde,

The medical profession is well aware that heart attacks do indeed increase in number during the holidays and winter seasons. One major study analyzing heart attacks among 138,602 people recorded a 35% higher number of heart attacks in December and January compared to August of a given year. We would all agree of course–no time of year is a good time for a heart attack!

Triglycerides: Medical researchers studying preventing holiday heart attacks have identified one of the contributing factors that can increase certain people’s risk during such times in preventing holiday heart attacks. The phenomena known as triglyceride spiking occurs when triglycerides suddenly rise to dangerous levels. This heightened risk can happen after eating a single fat meal such as we might enjoy at festive dinners during Thanksgiving Christmas or New Years. This innocent event can literally provide a direct pathway to a heart attack within 2 to 26 hours following the single high fat meal. Triglycerides are the fats that circulate in the blood and those individuals (particularly diabetics) who are already fighting higher levels are at greater risk. The advice of the researcher is––those at particular risk may help minimize their risk by simply taking 800 mgs of Vitamin E in combination with 1000 mgs of vitamin C –– prior to consuming the rich holiday dinner. According to the study, this combination can dramatically control the “spiking.” More emphasis has in the past few years been increasingly directed at controlling triglyceride level. Dr. Michael Miller M.D., Ph.D., and team at the University of Maryland determined that any triglyceride level over 100 increased one’s heart attack risk three fold. According to the findings the increase isn’t like cholesterol where the higher the number the greater the risk. With triglycerides, any number over one hundred produced the greater risk. These findings influenced the medical profession to change the nationally accepted guidelines for triglyceride levels,.

Tempers and the Holidays: Another perhaps less obvious reason for holiday heart attacks lies among unresolved resentments, sibling rivalries and a whole host of other emotionally charged situations that often rear themselves when families get together. Tempers explode and blood pressures rise. When someone “loses it” statistics show a two and a third time increased risk of a heart attack within the immediate hours following the incident. Here are a few reasons why: Under high stress as one might experience during a bout of anger the coronary arteries constrict resulting in a subsequent “arterial spasm.” Fatty cholesterol deposits within the artery becomes welded together closing off the artery initiating a heart attack. When one is in a state of anger, blood becomes viscous and adrenalin and other toxins are released into the bloodstream. In the book how to detect and neutralize Hidden Causes of Heart Attack and Stroke: (inflammation, cardiology’s newest frontier) two case histories representing the endpoint of extreme anger are presented along with many other hidden risk factors and information on how to neutralize them.

“Weekend Warriors” It isn’t difficult to get dad involved in a traditional game of touch football or hoops after Thanksgiving or another holiday dinner. “What say we work off a few of those extra helpings we just ate?” Is this a good idea if your dad or yourself have not been regularly involved in regular physical conditioning? www.abigon.com/page/page/448087.htm A study involving 1800 participants sponsored by the Institutes of Health looking at the heart attack risk from physical exertion found a 5.9 times (600%) greater heart attack risk within one hour of an actual innocent exertion. You could extrapolate from this study that someone out of condition, pushing a stalled automobile out of traffic or having to shovel snow or being pushed to the limit in a friendly game of after-holiday-dinner football could unconsciously be putting himself or herself at great risk. We have just read of three of the reasons heart attacks increase during the winter months and about certain simple life-protecting precautions we might keep in mind to help safe-guard ourselves and our families from America’s number one killer. The good news is that heart disease and heart attack is now considered to be 90% preventable at Let’s all apply a little common sense and favorably affect the number of heart attacks this holiday season.

www.christianwildehealthi...attack-and-heart-failure/

Here is George Noory's healthy heart/artery regimen: EDTA supplements and minerals, Magnesium Citrate, Vitamin C, Zinc, Vitamin E, Quercetin, Curcumin, white tea extract, Master Omega 3, Ellagic Acid, Folate, B12 & B6, & conjugated linolenic acid. Many of these ingredients can be found in one capsule. You should always consult a doctor before trying any supplements.

Tatarewicz  posted on  2014-06-11   4:16:46 ET  Reply   Trace   Private Reply  

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