High Cholesterol

High cholesterol is a condition where the bloodstream in your body carries more cholesterol than it should.  To understand how this can happen, there are some ABCs of cholesterol that you must know.  Most importantly your body uses cholesterol to make hormones, vitamin D, and substances that help you digest foods.

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that is found in all cells of the body.  Your body needs some cholesterol to work the right way, but your body makes all the cholesterol it needs. However, cholesterol is also found in some of the foods you eat, meaning that if your body produces too much (more than likely due to heredity) and you eat foods that contain high levels of cholesterol, odds are good that you will have high cholesterol.

Overview

Knowing your cholesterol "scores" is very important, ayou won't feel anything when you have high cholesterol - well not until it's too late.  Blood is watery, and cholesterol is fatty.  Just like oil and water, the two do not mix.  To travel in the bloodstream as you can see in the Artery Explorer - the Movie, cholesterol is carried in small packages called lipoproteins (lip-o-PRO-teens).  These small packages are made of fat (lipid) on the inside and proteins on the outside. Two kinds of lipoproteins carry cholesterol throughout your body.  It is important to have healthy levels of both:

• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) hauls cholesterol away from the liver to all cells in the body and drops it to be picked up by the HDL. The higher the LDL level in your blood, the greater chance you have of getting heart disease.
• High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, sometimes called good cholesterol, helps carry cholesterol out of the body.  If there is too much cholesterol for the HDL to pick up, cholesterol may gather into blobs called “plaque” that block arteries. The higher your HDL cholesterol level, the lower your chance of getting heart disease.

Cholesterol Numbers

Cholesterol is measured by three different numbers in combination; HDL, LDL and Triglycerides.

• LDL, “bad” cholesterol, Lower (under 100, and even under 70) is better.
• HDL, “good” cholesterol, Higher (over 40) is better.
• Triglycerides make up most of the body's fat, and are the storehouse for energy.  They may not be as bad as LDL, but too much triglycerides is bad and can damage artery linings.  Lower (under 100) is better.

Reading Your Numbers

To find how your cholesterol numbers compare to "normal", take the results of your cholesterol test and compare to the chart.

If you're being treated for high cholesterol and your cholesterol readings are in the normal range, it only means your cholesterol is under control - a good thing!  But ... you still have high cholesterol. You should continue treatment and see your doctor if the readings get out of control.

There is a very simple test that can be performed to assist with the diagnosis of high cholesterol.  This test, which can be performed at your doctor's office or even at home.

If you want additional information, an excellent resource is the National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute. Please visit that website from which the information above has been extracted.