Managing Your Cholesterol – The Best Way To Prevent Hearth Attacks
 by: Richard Clement

Cholesterol is one of the most familiar medical words today. Everyone knows “something” about it , but mostly cholesterol is associated in our mind with something “bad” and “unwanted” that happens to old and overweight people.The facts show that about 20 percent of the U.S. population has high blood cholesterol levels.

Actually holesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance (lipid) that your body needs for many important functions, such as producing new cells , some hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat.. It is present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscle, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.

In fact our bodies need cholesterol to function normally, but too much cholesterol can be bad for our health. Why ? Cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers. Cholesterol travels through your blood attached to a protein. This cholesterol–protein package is called a lipoprotein. Lipoproteins are high density or low density depending on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. If too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the walls of the arteries feeding the heart and brain. Together with other substances it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog those arteries. When the coronary arteries become narrowed or clogged by cholesterol and fat deposits (a process called atherosclerosis) and cannot supply enough blood to the heart, the result is coronary heart disease. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by total blockage of a coronary artery, the result is a heart attack. This is usually due to a sudden closure from a blood clot forming on top of a previous narrowing. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is called “bad” cholesterol because it can cause cholesterol buildup and blockage of your arteries. LDL is mostly fat with only a small amount of protein.

About one-third to one-fourth of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Medical experts think HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s passed from the body. Some experts believe HDL removes excess cholesterol from plaques and thus slows their growth. HDL is called “good” cholesterol because it helps prevent cholesterol from building up in your arteries. It is mostly protein with only a small amount of fat.

Since there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol it is not only necessary to know your cholesterol level ,it is also important to know your levels of LDL and HDL.

The fact is that there are no symptoms of high cholesterol. Your first symptom of high cholesterol could be a heart attack or a stroke. The level of cholesterol can be measured only with a blood test.The results come as three main numbers:

· Total Cholesterol

· LDL

· HDL

The level of LDL should be less than 160.

Total cholesterol should be less than 200.

The level of HDL should be more than 35.

Most Important: Your LDL level is a good indicator of your risk for heart disease. Lowering LDL is the main aim of treatment if you have high cholesterol. In general, the higher your LDL level, the greater your chance of developing heart disease.

Remember : Regular cholesterol tests are recommended to find out if your cholesterol level is within normal range.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT YOUR LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS?

The main cause of high blood cholesterol is eating too much fat, especially saturated fat. Saturated fats are found in animal products, such as meats, milk and other dairy products that are not fat free, butter, and eggs. Some of these foods are also high in cholesterol. Fried fast foods and snack foods often have a lot of fat.

Being overweight and not exercising can make your bad cholesterol go up and your good cholesterol go down. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.

Cigarette smoking damages the walls of your blood vessels, making them likely to have cholesterol rich plaques rupture and have heart attacks. Smoking may also lower your level of HDL cholesterol by as much as 15 percent.

Also, after women go through menopause, their bad cholesterol levels tend to go up. There is also a rare type of inherited high cholesterol that often leads to early heart disease.Some people inherit a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, which means that very high cholesterol levels run in the family.Other people, especially people for whom diabetes runs in the family, inherit high triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are another type of blood fat that can also push up cholesterol levels. People with high blood triglycerides usually have lower HDL cholesterol and a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Progesterone, anabolic steroids and male sex hormones (testosterone) also lower HDL cholesterol levels.

So we can make a conclusion that the main therapy is to change your lifestyle. This includes controlling your weight, eating foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol, exercising regularly, not smoking and, in some cases, drinking less alcohol.

But , depending on your risk factors, if healthy eating and exercise don’t work after about 6 months to 1 year, your doctor may suggest medicine to lower your cholesterol level.

Now there are very effective medications called “statins”,such as Lipitor.

The drug works by helping to clear harmful low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol out of the blood and by limiting the body’s ability to form new LDL cholesterol. Each tablet Lipitor includes 20mg Atorvastatin. It is in a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. It works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body. Lipitor has shown the ability to halt, not just slow, the potentially fatal buildup of plaque in clogged arteries. While a handful of drugs now available slow the buildup of new plaque, or atherosclerosis, in coronary arteries, no drug on the market has been proven to both stop new build-up and clear existing plaque.

So if you are loosing the battle with LDL levels , you can visit my site http://www.craforhealth.com/cholesterol.html, dedicated in the effective medical care , to find the proper treatment for your disease.

About The Author

Richard Clement is an online publisher dedicated in helping online users getting appropriate and effective medical care. Visit my site http://www.craforhealth.com/cholesterol.html for more info.

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I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

Difference Between Good and Bad Cholesterol | Difference Between

Good vs Bad Cholesterol Nowadays, more and more people are watching what they eat. Although many of these people do so in order for them to lose weight and.

Food Lowers Cholesterol

Foods like avocado can help lower cholesterol naturally and without dangerous statins. Learn more about how to lower your cholesterol with food.

Low Cholesterol Control And Causes Symptoms Of Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatty substance known as a lipid. It is mostly complete by the liver from the fatty foods we eat and is very important for the normal performance of the body (see box, left). Having an very high level of lipids in your …

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Cholesterol is a substance the body needs in order to complete some of its functions like creating cell tissues, protecting nerves and creating hormones. Cholesterol is produced by the liver but aliments like eggs and meat contain it too and by eating them we bring this cholesterol to out body.

Cholesterol is needed but not in excess. If the level of cholesterol increases too much there is a risk of stroke and heart attack. This happens because the cholesterol blocks the arteries and forms a so called “plaque” which narrows them. The disease the cholesterol in excess gives is named atherosclerosis. If the arteries get blocked completely by this plaque, then the blood will not be able to flow any more and tragic complications appear.

The heart is nurtured by the coronary arteries. If one of these arteries is obstructed by plaque, the heart attack will soon followed because the muscle heart will not be irrigated any more and will die. The same thing can happen inside the brain. If one of the arteries that irrigate the brain is blocked, the cerebral vascular accident, also known as stroke will occur.

A blood test to check the level of cholesterol is generally indicated after the age of 35 in men and after the age of 45 in women. If you have a heart condition associated or diabetes you might have to check the level of cholesterol more often. Also, persons who have suffered already a heart attack, those who have a family case of heart attack, those who smoke, are overweight and are quite inactive must check the level of cholesterol often too.

Cholesterol does not travel by its own inside the blood. He is attached to different lipoproteins and this is why doctors say that there are more types of cholesterol.

The low density lipoproteins make sure that the cholesterol gets to the body. The high density lipoproteins are charged with removing the cholesterol from the blood stream. This means that the low density lipoproteins are bad for the organism and the high density lipoproteins are good for it. So, if the total level of cholesterol in your body is high due to low density lipoproteins this means that you are at risk of having a stroke or heart attack. You the high level is due to high density lipoproteins you can relax because this does not expose you to such a high risk.

When checking the blood tests results the doctor knows that the ideal level of cholesterol in under 200. If it is until 239 it is considered to be a little bit high and if it is over 240 the patient is at risk of having a heart attack.

The level of low density lipoproteins is best to be less than 130 and the level of high density lipoproteins is good to be kept over 60 because under 40 exposes you to heart diseases.

There can be made some lifestyle changes in order to reduce the level of cholesterol: give up smoking, keep a healthy diet, and be active.

Of course there is medication that can lower the level of cholesterol but only the doctor can prescribe you an adequate treatment.

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How about these right… I think you’ll find the following nuggets of wisdom particularly insightful. Leave your comments below. Check out the second one in particular…

Diet changes improve older adults' cholesterol too

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If you have been to see a physician regarding your cholesterol levels, hopefully they have advised you to lower your high cholesterol through diet, if not and they have recommended you start taking statins, you may want to consider trying to lower your high cholesterol through diet first anyway before agreeing to take a lifetime prescription of these drugs. Don’t get me wrong, statins will certainly help you reduce your cholesterol levels, but some of the side effects that come with them appear to be just as bad. So, that said, let’s have a look at how to lower your high cholesterol through diet.

1. Get rid of foods containing trans fats. Trans fats are a man made fat and are known to raise LDL levels, in fact they are so bad for you they are banned in certain states in the US plus two countries in Europe. You can normally spot these kinds of fats in foods such cookies, pastries and ready made meals as they help to extend their shelf life; look on the packaging to see if it contains hydrogenated or part hydrogenated oils/fats as these are what trans fats are listed as. Also be wary of fast foods as they are normally deep fried in trans fats.
2. Increase the amount of foods you eat high in omega3, particularly oily fish. Oily fish such as salmon, tuna (steaks not the canned stuff) and mackerel have essential fats in their omega 3’s that are well known to help combat high cholesterol. In addition to that one of the effects of high cholesterol is plaque in the blood and these particular types of essential fats help to counteract that.
3. Eat more plant based food. The reason for this is that they contain phytosterols and these are very similar in cell structure to cholesterol. By having more of these in your diet means that they will be competing for the same space as the cholesterol for places in the gastrointestinal tract and therefore less cholesterol will be absorbed into the bloodstream.

These 3 tips should help you lower your high cholesterol through diet, however in addition to that you may want to consider including the use of a naturally blended supplement. These are supplements that have a combination of key nutrients which help not only lower LDL levels but raise HDL and get rid of excess cholesterol too; some of these supplements have been found to be as effective as statins but without the dangerous side effects.

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Have you been told by your doctor that you have high cholesterol? Are you still wondering what must have caused it? Here are the 7 common causes of high cholesterol which you must know before you can take the right steps to lower and reverse it.

The food you eat on a daily basis can cause high cholesterol. It has been proven that eating too much saturated fat especially those from beef, milk, butter, cheese, pork can increase your cholesterol level over time.

If any of your family members have high cholesterol, do not be surprise if your doctor tells you that your cholesterol level is high. As they say, it runs in the family.

Ensure you go for your regular medical checkups. This will quickly reveal if you are showing signs of certain diseases like diabetes, heart disease or hypothyroidism, which may cause high cholesterol.

Your struggles to get rid of your stubborn belly fat may just be a symptom. If you are overweight, do not be surprise when your doctor presents a report that your cholesterol level is on the high side.

Your being overweight means your activity level may be low. Not engaging in exercises and other activities that burn fat may cause your cholesterol level to go high.

The Surgeon General has been warning you of the dangers of cigarette smoking. If you smoke, you will cause your cholesterol level to go high. So it is wise you quit smoking today!

Your current age and gender can cause your cholesterol level to go high. As you grow older, the level tends to increase, especially if you are a man. For women, the increase is usually significant after menopause.

Since you have known the causes of high cholesterol, you can begin to take steps immediately to lower and permanently get rid of the toxins and waste in your body that may be responsible for your troubles. Click here now to learn how to cleanse your body of the effect of smoking, being overweight and the deadly foods you have been subjecting your body to over the years.

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How about these right… I think you’ll find the following nuggets of wisdom particularly insightful. Leave your comments below. Check out the second one in particular…

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Many drugs and especially alcohol are common causes of elevation of liver enzymes called aminotransferases. Some cholesterol-lowering drugs can also cause … Read More…

Help me understand my cholesterol drugs

Many drugs and especially alcohol are common causes of elevation of liver enzymes called aminotransferases. Some cholesterol-lowering drugs can also cause … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.

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There is a saying that goes. “We are what we eat.” This is so true as the food being consumed may affect the cholesterol levels inside the person’s system. This makes this makes the person prone to high blood pressure or heart disease through age, which could leave the patient, paralyzed or dead.

The only thing to do before it is too late is to make some changes in the individual’s diet. While many of the good stuff that people love to eat have high concentrations of LDL better known as bad cholesterol, this can all change by consuming those that have HDL or good cholesterol. Here are a few examples.

A good way to start a healthy diet is to have a breakfast. Instead of eating bread, the individual can consume oatmeal instead. Studies have shown this can lower the cholesterol in the body by more than 20. This can be purchased at the supermarket and eaten during anytime of the day such as dessert after a light meal or as a snack.

During lunch or dinner, the person must have some vegetables in the meal. Those who order can have fish or poultry instead of eating red meat. Such dishes are not high in saturated fats, which are healthier.

Those who love to cook at home can try mixing some healthy things ingredients in the meal. One example is garlic that has natural properties that can declog the arteries and again lower the odds of succumbing to heart disease.

Having a can of pork and beans is also good for the diet. This is because it contains soluble fibers that can combat the bad cholesterol in the person’s body. There are not that many people who will do this but those who are able to eat even a half an onion daily will be able to increase the HDL and lower the LDL.

People are often told that fats are not good for the diet. This isn’t entirely true because this comes in many forms. There are fats that are healthy such as unsaturated ones and omega 3 fatty acids.

Monosaturated and Polysaturated ones are also effective since these are usually found in cooking oils. This means food preparation also plays a big factor in reducing lowering one’s cholesterol levels.

The individual should read the label at the supermarket and read the ingredients to find out if this is healthy for cooking.

Being a bit overweight or noticing a lot of bulges in the body is one way of knowing that the person is potentially at risk for succumbing to disease to high levels of cholesterol in the system.

If the individual is unable to make a proper dietary plan, a specialist can help make one so all the person has to do is follow it.

About The Author

Stewwart levison is the Anti-aging expert who consistantly provide useful resources to helping people. http://anti-agingsecrets.com/nutrition

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How To Reduce Cholesterol Using Home Remedies

There are two types of blood cholesterol: Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and High-density lipoproteins (HDL). LDLs are bad because they are the ones responsible for deposit of plaque on the arteries walls. Deposit of plaque reduces the diameter of the artery and thereby restricts flow of blood through it. Therefore it can increase the risk of heart disease. HDLs are good because they remove cholesterol from arteries walls and carry it back to the liver to be excreted. Therefore HDLs in the blood can decrease the risk of heart disease.

Avoid high cholesterol foods; it can cause increased levels of low density lipoproteins (LDL) that carry cholesterol to build up a mass plaque on the arterial walls. This is known as hypercholesterolemia, the cause of atherosclerosis that causes problems like heart attack or strokes.

Saturated fats, trans fats, fat red meats, chicken, dairy products (fat not removed) are high cholesterol foods and is should be avoided. Avoid alcohol consumption and high sodium food sources. You should plan your diet for lowering cholesterol.

A list of low cholesterol foods that can be combined to create low cholesterol menus is given below:

The best low cholesterol foods are fruits and green vegetables. They are low in cholesterol and contain so many vitamins and minerals too. Green vegetables will help you to control your cholesterol, high blood pressure and reduce your risks for other heart diseases.

Lean protein is good in this condition. The excellent source of lean protein is fish. Try to eat 3 to 4 meals of fish each week.

Whole grains such as oatmeal are the best option for lowering cholesterol. They also provide you lots of energy because they have high-energy content and dietary fiber content. Grains are effective foods to lower cholesterol level. They are also effective in controlling weight. Wheat bread, beans, potatoes, pasta, and cereals can also help lower cholesterol levels.

Exercise and yoga plays an important role for healthy living. Exercise and yoga stimulate your metabolism and help you to lower cholesterol naturally. This is safe and effective too. With the help of exercise and yoga, you can increase your immunity, which will help you to fight with any
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disease. You will look, feel younger and fit. Stress contributes to the development of every disease in existence. Yoga will help you to manage your stress level and strengthen your immunity.

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Copyright © Ryan Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

By: Ryan Mutt

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Read more Home Remedies for High Cholesterol to lower cholesterol naturally. Also find Home Remedies for High Blood Pressure to control BP. Read simple Home Remedies for Low Blood Pressure and other tips and suggestions.

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I hope you’ve been enjoying my posts lately. I thought I might do something different today and rustle up a few bits of info from around the WWW. These are some of the news items and blog posts that have been popular over the last few weeks. Leave me your thoughts.

Diet changes improve older adults' cholesterol too

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Older adults can cut their cholesterol levels by revamping their dietary fat intake — even if they are already on … Read More…

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey to Staff: Get Slim, Save Money

So when he launched a plan to give his employees discounts on health insurance if they maintained lower blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index, … Read More…

High cholesterol puts 1 of 5 teens at risk of heart disease

One out of every five US teenagers has a cholesterol level that increases the risk of heart disease, federal health officials reported Thursday … Read More…
That’s all the news for today guys, so until next time, thanks for stopping by.

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