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Cholesterol Treatment

October 16th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

What Does Cholesterol Treatment Involve?

Cholesterol treatment is designed to lower the levels of bad cholesterol and thus help to prevent atherosclerosis and ensuing heart attacks. Before any cholesterol treatment is prescribed your doctor will most likely request a few tests to ascertain exactly what the levels of cholesterol in your blood. Your doctor will also look into your medical history to judge the intensity of risk involved.

Importance of Risk Factors

If you have a history of heart attack in the family, you smoke, you have already developed high blood pressure, diabetes and/or have a history of atherosclerosis or heart disease, the recommended cholesterol treatment will be chosen accordingly. However, if the risk factors (as described above) are low the doctor will most likely prescribe a drug free therapy which will consist mostly of changes in diet and life style.

However, if one or more high risk symptoms are found to be present, and the levels of cholesterol (LDL in particular) are high too, then the doctor will start you on medication, depending upon the stage of the disease.

It is common knowledge that bad cholesterol or LDL cholesterol is instrumental in causing atherosclerosis. This disease is the first step towards heart attack and eventually death. Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease which can start extremely early in life. Since it does not have any particular symptoms, it will progress silently and manifest itself through heart pain (angina) and heart attacks.

The cholesterol treatment the doctor prescribes will aim to reverse this trend. While medicines are found to be efficient, some studies show that they are not enough. People who develop atherosclerosis are still at risk from heart attacks even with the most appropriate regime of diet, exercise and lifestyle. What seems to help is to increase the levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

HDL cholesterol removes and cleans the arteries of the plaque formed by fat and other debris accumulation thereby returning the cardiovascular system to its healthy form. This cholesterol treatment is what really helps in the end. Unless the arteries are “cleaned”, the risk of heart attack can still exists despite the bad cholesterol being brought under control.

In order to be informed about risk from an early stage, when it is easier to reverse the atherosclerosis, you need to take a cholesterol test at least once every three years. You should also be careful about what type of fat you consume and reduce saturated fats to the minimum.

LDL Cholesterol

September 15th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

A Common Cause of Heart Attacks is High LDL CholesterolLDL cholesterol (or the bad cholesterol) is known to be one of the main causes for heart disease leading to heart attack. This is because LDL cholesterol coats the inside of the arteries with fat narrowing them by building up debris on the inside which causes atherosclerosis. So you’d think that knowing how to lower LDL cholesterol and taking action upon your findings would improve the situation but this is not the case. Even people who have normal levels of LDL cholesterol or just a little high LDL levels can be at risk of developing atherosclerosis and heart attacks.

LDL Cholesterol – The Silent Killer

Knowing how to lower LDL cholesterol is no guarantee that this will prevent atherosclerosis and/or heart attack. There have been many times where the patient in question took the right medication, followed the right diet and exercise regime very seriously and was able to lower and keep their LDL cholesterol at the lowest possible levels. However, the same person still developed progressive atherosclerosis and still experienced mild heart attacks.

This happens even in ideal conditions, i.e. even when the patient does not indulge in unhealthy habits such as smoking, or heavy drinking of alcohol, etc. So, if at all possible it is better not to develop high LDL cholesterol levels in the first place.

Although it looks like knowing how to lowering LDL cholesterol will solve the problem, once the thickening of the arteries sets in this is not enough. It needs something that de-activates the atherosclerosis process to lower the risk of heart attack. This is possible only with the increasing of HDL cholesterol.

HDL cholesterol or good cholesterol is known to remove the debris of fat that has settled on the inside walls of the arteries, thus cleaning the pathway and enabling free flow of blood. The fat and other particles that the HDL cholesterol picks up from the clogged arteries are then sent to the liver which breaks them down and expels them out of the system.

Hence, in order avoid the dangers of heart disease and impeding heart attack it is necessary to avoid the formation of bad cholesterol in the first place. Secondly, it always pays to have increased levels of HLD cholesterol or the good cholesterol because of its ability to clear the arteries of the debris and hence keeping the cardio-vascular system safe and sound.

The studies that have been done till date have clearly indicated that increased LDL cholesterol can be fatally dangerous. The only way to combat the ensuing heart disease is to keep the bad cholesterol levels at the lowest possible in the blood and actively increase the formation of good cholesterol. Knowing how to lower LDL cholesterol levels is a help but it is not sufficient to improve your changes of avoiding heart problems.

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The information on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes only, and does not constitute professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your health you should seek the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other health care provider. Do not start new or change existing treatment without such professisonal advice.