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High-Cholesterol Lowdown
Learn how blood fats affect your health -- and how to keep
them in check
by Sally Kazumchek
Talk about a common problem. Virtually half of the adults in the
United States currently have a borderline-high (200 to 239 milligrams
per deciliter) or high (above 240 mg/dL) cholesterol level, which
dramatically raises their chances of having a stroke or heart attack.
Are you at risk for high cholesterol? Heredity plays a role in
whether your levels are high or low, as does gender: Premenopausal
women tend to have lower levels than men, probably due to the protective
effects of estrogen. But lifestyle choices can also significantly
affect blood cholesterol. Being overweight is particularly associated
with higher cholesterol levels, as are smoking, heavy drinking and
being physically inactive.
The Fat Factor
Your diet also counts for a lot. You may be surprised to learn that
although cholesterol itself, found in animal products such as eggs,
does have an impact, it's not the main culprit.
Saturated fat has been found to have a much bigger influence. And
Americans tend to load up on foods high in saturated fat like fatty
meats, butter, whole milk and full-fat cheeses. Trans fats -- found
in packaged snacks and fast food -- also raise cholesterol as much
as saturated fat. You can spot them on food labels by looking for
hydrogenated oils on the ingredient list. "Trans fats are the
ultimate bad fats," says Nieca Goldberg, M.D., a spokesperson
for the American Heart Association (AHA) and chief of Women's Cardiac
Care at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
Time to Act
The first line of defense against elevated cholesterol: Know your
numbers. According to the AHA, all adults should have their cholesterol
checked every five years, more frequently if they've already been
diagnosed with high cholesterol.
If your levels are high, your doctor will probably suggest lifestyle
changes. A lower-fat, lower-cholesterol diet, teamed with 30 to
60 minutes of exercise a day, can reduce cholesterol by 8 to 12
percent, says Dr. Goldberg. Smoking cessation and weight loss also
help.
But for some people, lifestyle changes alone aren't enough to lower
their cholesterol to an ideal level. In these cases, medication
is the recommended approach.
"The vast majority of people will be able to reach their goals
with medication," says Roger S. Blumenthal, M.D., director
of the Johns Hopkins Ciccarone Preventive Cardi-ology Center and
spokesperson for the AHA's Cholesterol Low Down program.
Commonly used drugs include statins, which lower "bad"
LDL cholesterol levels; resins, which help eliminate cholesterol
from the body; and nicotinic acid, which decreases the production
of LDL and raises "good" HDL cholesterol.
Leveling Off
For people who have suffered a heart attack, decreasing their "bad"
LDL cholesterol to very low levels with intensive drug therapy offers
significant protection against future heart problems, according
to new research. Scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital found
that the best results were seen in patients who lowered their LDL
levels to 62 mg/dL with high doses of statin drugs. (The LDL target
for heart patients is 100 or less.)
Source: www.meijer.com
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