According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, high blood cholesterol affects over 65 million Americans. High cholesterol can lead to heart disease and one that is often preventable, or at least manageable.

Cholesterol is a soft, fat-like, waxy substance found in the blood and the body’s cells. The body needs cholesterol as it’s a building block, but not all cholesterol is good and not all cholesterol is bad.
Which is which?
The low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is considered the “bad” cholesterol and what doctors are looking for when they’re sending you for cholesterol tests. The best way to remember is …read more

In today’s fast pace, fast food world even our children have high cholesterol. It is more important than ever to know your cholesterol levels.
Good cholesterol HDL levels for men should be higher than 40 and 50 for women. When the levels are over 60 it lowers your risk factors for heart disease.
The HDL removes cholesterol from the arteries, taking it back to the liver where it passes from your body.
Bad cholesterol or LDL builds up in the walls of the arteries. The walls of your blood vessels will narrow over time, due to the build-up of the fatty deposits. The …read more

During the holidays we find ourselves attending more social events, at these events there is always an abundance of food and alcohol. Before attending these events it is always wise to ask your health care provider some questions. Ask them if consuming alcohol could cause any problems with your heart or interfere with any medication that you are presently taking.
Research that has taken place suggest that moderate alcohol consumption my actually be beneficial for your heart. Drinking one drink a day for women or lightweight individuals and two drinks per day for men is suggested. Some examples are 12 ounces …read more

How are your genes looking? No it is not a typo and I do not mean the ones on your backside, I mean the ones your Mama and Papa gave you!
Cholesterol be warned… they are on a rampage and their coming for you. An international study of over 20,000, yes 20,000, people allowed researchers to identify 7 new genes that influence blood cholesterol levels and confirmed 11 other genes that were previously thought to influence high lipids.
Of the seven new variants, two influenced HDL, one influenced LDL, and three influenced triglycerides, which are found in fat and in the bloodstream …read more

As some people already know, Australians are special people. So special they don’t need to worry about the evils of trans fat in their diet.
Lydia Buchtmann of Food Standards Australia New Zealand:

There’s not a huge percentage of trans fat in the Australian diet. We’ve been carrying out a formal review with dietary modelling, and the preliminary findings have been that 0.6 per cent of our total kilojoules come from trans fat, which is well below the World Health Organisation’s maximum limit of 1 per cent.

Australian health experts want their citizens to focus more on saturated fats, the main cause of …read more

Supermodel Rachel Hunter is the new face of Benecol, spreads that contain cholesterol-lowering plant stanol esters. Hunter has a personal involvement with heart disease since she has had a heart murmur since the age of 12. Her father has had two heart bypass operations.
The problem worsened a bit after I had [older daughter] Renee and I had to take medication,” she reveals. “I have a high risk of familial heart disease even though I exercise regularly and eat right. It’s why I agreed to front the campaign because the yogurt helps to reduce cholesterol naturally.
My dad’s heart …read more

Antioxidants, such as beta-carotene and vitamin E, deactivate free radicals which are known to cause cell damage. Free radicals are also known to oxidize LDL cholesterol leading to the build-up of fat in arteries. Theoretically, preventing this oxidation should reduce the risk of heart disease. New evidence suggests that antioxidants may not play such a role after all.
Researchers have found that Probucol, a cholesterol-lowering drug that reduced the levels of LDL cholesterol but with adverse side effects, was not acting as an anti-oxidant as previously thought. It seems to exert its effect via a part …read more

Eli Lilly osteoporosis drug, Evista aka raloxifene, appears to reduce the risk of invasive breast cancer but does not have any protective effects on the heart. There were some signs in previous clinical trials that Evista was capable of reducing LDL cholesterol, but a recent study of 10,000 women did not show the same effects.
There was no difference in overall death or cardiovascular death among women who took Evista compared with those who took a placebo. The company said there was an increase in stroke mortality, although the overall incidence was low.
Sometimes it seems to me that testing to …read more

Every Sunday, I’ll be highlighting someone’s experience with cardiovascular disease. It’s a good reminder that heart disease is about real, live people, not just numbers and technical info.
This past week, Ben got the results of his cholesterol test back.
My LDL is sitting at a cool 54, while my HDL is at a very nice 145. but, what do those numbers mean?? WebMD says that HDL should be above 60. check. But more importantly, less than 100 LDL is optimal. check.
Congratulations!

Low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is bad. Very bad. It clogs your heart’s arteries and is a major factor in coronary heart disease.
Some people, like the Chinese, naturally have low levels of LDL and correspondingly low levels of heart disease. Genetics play a large part in determining LDL Levels but the environment is important too. High-fat, high-cholesterol diet, sedentary lifestyle, and smoking all increase LDL cholesterol levels.
In a recent study, researchers found that even a small increase decrease in LDL cholesterol can reduce a person’s risk of coronary heart disease. It’s possible to reduce the …read more