What You Need To Know About Cholesterol
What You Need To Know About Cholesterol
By Kathryn Soloff
Lipid disorder is the term used by doctors for high blood cholesterol and triglycerides.
Lipid disorder happens when you have high levels of fatty substances in your blood.
Cholesterol and triglycerides are these fatty substances.
Lipid disorders actually increase your risk for both atherosclerosis and heart disease.
It is not unusual for high cholesterol to be hereditary. High cholesterol is also associated
with:
1/ High fat diets
2/ Diseases including diabetes, hypothyroidism and kidney problems
3/ Various medications that include birth control pills, estrogen, corticosteroids, some diuretics
and beta blockers
4/ Certain lifestyle factors that include lack of activity and al abuse
When you combine smoking with high cholesterol you put yourself at greater risk for
heart disease.
Also, as a rule, lipid disorders are usually more common with men rather than women.
The tests used to diagnose lipid disorders include:
a- Lipoprotein Test
b- Lipoproteina Analysis
c- HDL Test
d- LDL Test
The type of treatment you receive will depend on your age, back round & whether or not you smoke.
Other risk factors taken into consideration include:
* Diabetes
* Problems with high blood pressure
* If you have a family history of heart disease
There are, of course, steps that you can take to reduce high cholesterol levels. This in turn will help to prevent problems with your heart and the risk of a heart attack. The following are some of the
thing that you can do:
1- Eat a diet that is low in saturated fat. Include whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruit in your diet.
2- Establish a regular exercise routine and stick to it.
3- Obviously, if you are overweight, lose it.
4- Quit smoking.
5- Reduce your alcohol intake.
6- See your doctor for regular cholesterol screenings.
If lifestyle changes alone do not significantly reduce your cholesterol, your doctor will
very likely recommend medication.
The most commonly prescribed medicine for high cholesterol are statins. The drugs are
very successful in reducing high cholesterol levels in a relatively short period of time (about
two months). The down side if that they can present with some very harmful side effects.
Another alternative is to use natural herbs. The right herbs can be very mild and effective.
The down side is that they may take up to six months to work because they are so mild.
The benefit however is that there is no harmful side effects.
If you discover that you have high cholesterol you will have to continue with your diet changes
and whatever treatment you choose for the rest of your life. By reducing your high cholesterol
you will slow the progression of atherosclerosis. With the right dietary changes, this process
can ever be reversed.
Learn More About What You Need To Know About Cholesterol.Kathryn Soloff is the co-publisher of
http://cholest-pure.com/ where she provides additional advice, tips and hard to find information on
How To Lower Your Cholesterol.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathryn_Soloff
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-You-Need-To-Know-About-Cholesterol&id=1044823
Leave a Reply