Five Tips for Controlling Cholesterol
Filed Under cholesterol | Leave a Comment
So now you know what it takes to shape up your total cholesterol reading: You want to pare down your LDL cholesterol while making sure that your HDL level holds steady or even goes up a few points. And really, it’s not as hard-or as painful-as you may think. Experts say that you can get the upper hand on cholesterol simply by adapting the following five strategies. In fact, these make sense for anyone who wants to lead a healthy lifestyle, whether or not high cholesterol is a concern.
Eat less fat.
We now get about 37 percent of total calories from fat, down from 42 percent in the 1960s. This is great news, since consuming too much fat, particularly saturated fat, has been linked to an increased risk of coronary heart disease. But we still have a ways to go: The American Heart Association recommends getting no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. Other experts suggest 25 percent or even lower. The menu plan in part III (page 217) and the recipes in part IV (page 251) will help you begin a no-cholesterol, low-fat eating program.
Lose weight.
Folks who follow low-fat, low-cholesterol diets and lose excess weight tend to have easier times reducing their total and “bad” LDL cholesterol than people who don’t drop the extra pounds, says Margo Denke, M.D., associate professor of medicine in the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.
One study of 150 people who were overweight concluded that folks who lose just 10 to 15 percent of excess body weight-and keep it off-may help afford themselves long-term protection from coronary heart disease. Dropping extra pounds may also boost “good” HDL cholesterol. In a study of 2,400 people, women experienced a 2 percent increase in LDL and a 2 percent drop in HDL for every five pounds they gained. “Being ovenveight is the most common cause of low HDL in women,” says Dr. Denke. “It’s important to get down to an ideal body weight to bring HDL back up.”
Exercise.
The Framingham Heart Study found that people who were physically active for more than an hour a week had significantly higher HDL levels than those people who exercised less than an hour a week.
Stop smoking.
Smoking can lead to atherosclerosis and can deflate HDL by as much as 15 percent. So quitting can significantly improve your cholesterol profile. “Quitting smoking can reverse the negative effect on HDL in just 60 days,” explains Robert Rosenson, M.D., director of the Preventive Cardiology Center at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.
Reduce your stress level
Several studies suggest that emotional stress can elevate cho1estero11eve1s, so keeping cool may help keep the lid on your cholesterol.
Cholesterol and Two Proteins
Filed Under cholesterol | Leave a Comment
Cholesterol doesn’t dissolve in blood, so it can’t get to where the body needs it on its own. It has to hitch a ride on special carriers called lipoproteins. There are two major types of lipoproteins: low-
Low Density lipoprotein (LDL) and High Density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, is packed with cholesterol, while HDL, the good” cholesterol, is mostly protein. If there’s too much LDL in your blood, it gets deposited on the walls of your arteries as fatty clumps. If these clumps break free, they
MEN: LOWER YOUR CHOLESTEROL,IMPROVE YOUR LOVE LIFE?
Men with high total cholesterol and low levels of “good” HDL cholesterol may be prime candidates for impotence, several studies show.
In one study, researchers gave a group of 3,371 men physical exams, including cholesterol tests. Each man visited the clinic twice, with an average of 22 months between visits.
In that time, 71 men developed impotence. But men with total cholesterol above 240 milligrams/deciliter were 83 percent more likely to suffer from impotence, compared with men whose total cholesterol was below 180 milligrams/deciliter. Also, men whose HDL exceeded 60 milligrams/deciliter were 70 percent less likely to be impotent, compared with men whose HDL was below 30 milligrams/deciliter. Atherosclerosis may cause impotence by reducing blood flow to the penis, the re-
searchers speculated.
Another study, which examined the various causes of impotence in Massachusetts men, found that the men’s risk of impotence rose as their HDL levels dipped can cause the blood to clot. A clot that cuts off the flow of blood to the heart can cause a heart attack; a clot that blocks blood flow to the brain can trigger a stroke.
HDL, on the other hand, is a cardiovascular hero. It patrols your arteries, hauling cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver for dumping. Experts agree that the higher your HDL, the better your cardiovascular health is likely to be. One study has concluded that for each one milligram/deciliter rise in HDL, the risk of coronary heart disease declines 2 to 3 percent.
What’s Your Ratio?
You’re most likely familiar with your total cholesterol, or the sum of your HDL and LDL values and other blood fats. To determine whether your blood fats fall within a desirable range, your doctor will evaluate your cholesterol ratio-that is, your total cholesterol divided by your HDL cholesterol. Experts agree that the ideal ratio is 4 to 1 or lower.
WOMEN: HEED YOUR HDL
Before they reach menopause, women have significantly lower rates of coronary heart disease than men their ages. Why? In a word: estrogen. This female sex hormone appears to raise women’s stores of heart-healthy HDL cholesterol. “Women tend to have higher HDL than men, which may be one reason why they have less heart disease than men-at least in their premenopausal years,” says Peter Wood, D.Sc., Ph.D., professor emeritus of medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine.
After the onset of menopause, a woman’s total and “bad” LDL cholesterol rise and her HDL wanes, most likely because of a dwindling supply of estrogen. “Postmenopausal women’s heart attack rates eventually catch up with those of men their ages, ,. says William P. Castelli, M.D., medical director of the Framingham Cardiovascular Institute, a wellness program at Metro West Medical Center in Framingham, Massachusetts. But take heart: Vomen can raise their HDL by quitting smoking, losing weight and getting regular exercise,” says Dr. Castelli.
Let’s say you discover that your total cholesterol is 250 miligrams/deciliter and your HDL is 50 milligrams/deciliter. Dividing vour total cholesterol (250) by your HDL (50) gives you a ratio of 5 to .. But cutting your total cholesterol to 200 milligrams/deciliter while holding your HDL at 50 milligrams/deciliter will shrink your cholesterol ratio to a more desirable 4 to 1. In fact, doctors participating in the Physicians’ Health Study-an ongoing study of over 22,000 American doctors conducted at Harvard Medical School and Brigham andw omen’s Hospital in Boston-found that cutting just one unit from there ratios of total to HDL cholesterol slashed their heart attack risk. by 53 persent.
Basics of LDL and HDL
Filed Under cholesterol | Leave a Comment
You’ve decided that it’s high time to give cholesterol its walking papers. After all. you think, anything that has proven ties to two of the nation’s top killers-heal1 disease and stroke-must be up to no good. And the less of it that’s floating around your bloodstream, the better off you’ll be.
Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as that. To begin with, your body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to carry out some of its most essential functions.That’s more, there’s a particular kind of cholesterol that is actually heart-friendly, and depleting its supply could have serious effects on your cardiovascular health.
So before you launch your anti-cholesterol offensive, it might not be a bad idea to get a little better acquainted with the “enemy.” For starters: What exactly is this stuff, anyway?
The Good, the Bad and the Murky
Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found in every human cell, in blood and in food. The kind found in food is called dietary cholesterol. Only animal-based foods such as meat and dairy products contain dietary cholesterol: it’s not found in plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, beans and grains.
As mentioned earlier, cholesterol isn’t as evil as you might think.
Your body actually needs the stuff, and your cells make what they need. Your liver, for example, uses cholesterol to make bile acids, which help you digest food.
But too much cholesterol circulating in your blood can lead to trouble. One study, the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial, evaluated nearly 360,000 American men, none of whom had yet experienced a heart attack. After seven years, the investigators found that men with total cholesterol above 220 milligrams/deciliter had twice.
Studies of women show that before menopause, women’s levels of lood cholesterol tend to average about ten points lower than men’s.At menopause, however, the gap closes, and women seem to run the same risk as men.
Benefits of reducing your cholesterol
Filed Under cholesterol | Leave a Comment
To fire up your resolve, we’ve listed the most significant benefits of reducing your cholesterol.
You can slow or even reverse the progression of atherosclerosis. In atherosclerosis, fatty deposits called plaques clog the walls of the coronary arteries, the vessels that supply oxygen-rich blood to the heart. Atherosclerosis can lead to coronary heart disease, or blockages in the coronary arteries. If left untreated, these blockages.
heart attack
Lowering your cholesterol can reduce your chances of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. One landmark study, the Lipid Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial, found that for each ~ percent you lower your total cholesterol, the probability of devel=ping coronary heart disease or having a heart attack falls 2 percent. The same study found that as cholesterol levels dip, so does the inci’::ence of chest pain (angina) and coronary bypass surgery.
You can reduce or eliminate your reliance on cholesterollowering medication. While people with extremely high cholesterol nay need cholesterol-lowering drugs, “drugs are the second line of defense,” says John McDougall, M.D., creator and head of the MeDougall Program at St. Helena Hospital in Santa Rosa, California, and author of McDougall’s Heart Medicine. “Diet and lifestyle changes are .he foundation for recovering from coronary heart disease.”
You can reduce your risk of stroke. One study has found that elevated cholesterol can produce abnormal amounts of a chemical that can cause spasms in the carotid artery in the neck, which supplies blood to the brain. If these spasms interrupt blood flow, they could trigger a mini-stroke, or a transient ischemic attack.
If you-have diabetes, you can troubleshoot potential problems. Some research suggests that women with diabetes have twice the risk of coronary heart disease of women without diabetes; both women and men with diabetes have about twice the risk of the general population. People with diabetes also tend to have high levels of triglycerides, another blood fat implicated in coronary heart disease. If you have diabetes, lowering your cholesterol and controlling other risk factors such as high blood pressure and overweight can cut down the chances of developing diabetes-related heart and blood vessel problems.
You can extend your quantity of life. The renowned Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked the health of the residents of Framingham, Massachusetts, for more than four decades, has shown that the lower cholesterol levels fall, the lower the chance of heart attacks and sudden death.
You can enhance your quality of life. Taking charge of elevated cholesterol now could mean the difference in the future between shuttling to and from the doctor’s office (or to and from the hospital) and enjoying a full, happy, healthy life.
Cholesterol: How High Is High ?
Filed Under cholesterol | Leave a Comment
Some people can rattle off their cholesterol levels as quickly as their Social Security numbers. But if you require some translation, consult these guidelines, designated by the National Cholesterol Education Program. (All readings are in milligrams/deciliter.)
TOTAL CHOLESTEROL
Desirable Less than 200
Borderline high 200 to 239
High 240 or above
LDL CHOLESTEROL
Desirable Less than 130
Borderline high 130 to 159
High 160 or above
HDL CHOLESTEROL
Desirable Above 35
If you’ve already been diagnosed with heart disease, there’s every reason for hope. Studies show that even people with severe heart disease can turn their health around. One benchmark study-the Lifestyle Heart Trial, led by Dean amish, M.D., president and director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, and author of Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease-concluded that people with heart disease can often stop or even reverse their conditions with lifestyle changes alone.
Most likely, you can do it, too.
Cutting Cholesterol Has Big Health Benefits
Filed Under cholesterol | Leave a Comment
Not so long ago, when red meat, whole milk and creamery butter topped the country’s culinary Hit Parade, high blood cholesterol was considered the medical equivalent of a mosquito bite.
Not anymore. Doctors now know that high blood cholesterol sets the stage for a host of debilitating health conditions, including atherosclerosis, heart attack and stroke.
To add insult to injury, high cholesterol has a nasty way of sneaking up on you (which may be why you’re reading this book). If you’ve been ambushed by high cholesterol’s sneak attack, you’re not alone. The blood cholesterol levels of 60 percent of us exceed 200 milligrams/deciliter, even though the National Cholesterol Education Program has designated blood cholesterol levels of less than 200 milligrams/deciliter as desirable. And almost 30 percent of us have high cholesterol-technically, 240 milligrams/deciliter or above.
But take heart. While elevated cholesterol is a significant risk factor for heart disease, it’s a risk that you can control. “There are solid studies showing that watching your diet, exercising regularly and reducing your stress level can slow or perhaps even reverse atherosclerosis,” says Marianne Legato, M.D., associate professor of clinical medicine at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and author of The Female Heart.