Most adults have had their cholesterol levels checked at least once. The results of this simple blood test must be checked against several different cholesterol charts to determine what, if any, steps are necessary to correct readings that are not ideal.

What Does Each Cholesterol Chart Evaluate?

There are four major cholesterol charts used to classify the levels of different types of cholesterol found in your blood. The first chart breaks down total cholesterol into three levels. Blood levels of less than 200mg/dl are considered to be normal, levels of 200-239 mg/dl are considered borderline high and levels of 240 mg/dl or higher are considered high.

The next cholesterol chart deals with bad or LDL cholesterol levels. On this chart there are four levels. LDL cholesterol levels of less than 100 mg/dl are considered normal, levels of 100-129 mg/dl are considered to be near optimal, levels of 130-159 mg/dl are considered borderline high and levels of 160 mg/dl or higher care considered high.

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Today obesity and other health problems are truly becoming an epidemic which has caused people to take care of their health. One aspect that people need to know more about is cholesterol. The common misperception is that all cholesterol is bad, but in fact there is both good and bad cholesterol that play different roles in your body. This is why it is important to learn about cholesterol and how it affects your health so you know what your treatment options are. Basically there are two types of cholesterol LDL and HDL.

LDL And HDL

LDL is considered the bad form of cholesterol because two much of it in your blood can build up on the inner artery that feed the heart and brain over time. In addition, LDL can work with other substances in the body to form plaque which is a thick, hard deposit that can eventually clog the arteries causing a condition known as atherosclerosis. HDL is considered the good form of cholesterol since high levels of this will help protect people against heart attacks and too low of levels can actually increase a persons risk of heart attack.

Triglycerides

When discussing cholesterol there is one other factor you should consider and that is triglycerides. These are a form of fat that is found in food but is also made naturally in a persons body. This is important to cholesterol because it has been found that those with a high triglyceride level often also have a high total cholesterol, a high LDL and a low HDL.

It is very important to have your levels check regularly in order to keep yourself healthy and fit. Everyone’s health is affected to a large extent by cholesterol and you need to know when your LDL levels are too high, when your HDL levels are two low or when you have a combination of both. It is also a good idea to know when your body is healthy.

Although you need to check your levels regularly since they can change quite dramatically rather quickly. If you were checked about a month ago it doesn’t mean you are still healthy today. So it is important to make LDL and HDL levels a part of your regular checkup at the doctors office. This way you can stay on top of your health and know when you need to make the necessary lifestyle changes to prolong your life and reduce your risk of heart disease. You doctor can recommend the necessary lifestyle changes and medications that you may need if they find you have high or low levels.

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Unless you get a blood test that includes your lipid profile you won’t know if you have high cholesterol levels. You can have a variety of complications if you don’t have your cholesterol levels checked including heart disease which can possibly lead to death. The most important way that you can first against high cholesterol levels and heart disease is to prevent them. You can do this by taking a look at your lifestyle and making changes to keep a healthy heart.

Watch Your Weight

Not only does weight gain run the risk of you not fitting into your jeans, but it can also raise your LDL or bad cholesterol levels while lowering your HDL or good cholesterol levels. This is the perfect condition for heart disease to develop. It doesn’t take much weight loss to see improvement in you cholesterol levels, just five to ten percent of your body weight is enough. You can achieve a healthy weight through numerous diets and recipes.

Lifestyle Changes

You can reduce your bad cholesterol levels and raise the good with moderate exercise or about thirty minutes at least five times a week. You don’t have to overdo your exercise, often just a brisk walk will be enough to change your cholesterol levels. You can search the internet for sites that will help you to find the exercise program that is right for you. When it comes to diet you should include a lot of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean sources of protein. You should try to avoid meats, pastries, cookies and snack foods as much as possible.

Medication

There are certain medications that can directly cause a change in your cholesterol levels whether it is good or bad. When you begin taking any new medication be sure to ask your doctor how the drug will affect your cholesterol levels. If the medication has a risk of changing your levels then you may want to discuss an alternative medication with your doctor. If you have not medication alternative then you should make a good plan to monitor your lipid levels very closely.

Smoking

Smoking not only lower the good cholesterol in your system but it also increased oxidized bad cholesterol and accelerates the growth of atherosclerosis, all of these can place individuals at an increased risk of coronary heart disease. Although the sooner you stop smoking the better your chance of being able to reduce your risk of heart disease related to high cholesterol levels. Making lifestyle changes now will benefit your life for years to come.

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High cholesterol foods may often be tasty but they can be shortening a person’s life span by raising the cholesterol levels in their body and clogging up their blood vessels. High cholesterol can lead to further problems such as heart disease and it is much better to prevent things from getting this far.

Saturated fat is often found in a list of high cholesterol foods which should be either cut out from the diet or significantly cut down. Saturated fats raise the amount of bad cholesterol in the body, therefore consuming too many foods containing saturated fats could lead to a higher risk of a heart attack or other heart problems occurring. A certain amount of cholesterol is necessary for a healthy body but a normal amount is already produced in the body.

A list of high cholesterol foods will contain many foods that should be eaten only occasionally or not at all. The fat in these foods can cause the liver to overproduce cholesterol and without whole grain foods and oats, the cholesterol does not leave the body as it should. A number of foods are low in cholesterol but are full of saturated fats, making them just as harmful. On the same note, some foods contain cholesterol but also contain polyunsaturated fats which cause the liver to produce more good cholesterol.

A Black List of Foods High in Cholesterol

A maximum of 300mg of cholesterol should be consumed in any given day so it is a surprise to learn that a medium sized egg contains over 200mg of cholesterol. Even having two eggs for breakfast can surpass the recommended level of cholesterol. There are many foods that could place in a black list of foods high in cholesterol. Arming yourself with a list of foods that are high in cholesterol could make a shopping trip a healthier experience.

Egg yolks, red meat, chicken, fish, dairy products and all animal fats are high in cholesterol. Processed foods and pastries are also full of cholesterol. Cheese, butter, ice-cream, cake and meat; all things that we take for granted but could be slowly sending us on the way to heart disease. They can be eaten albeit in moderation while the levels of cholesterol in these foods could be counteracted by exercising and consuming whole grains. Taking a healthy stance in regards to cholesterol could save your life and add years to it.

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A cholesterol test is an important laboratory examination that tests a blood sample and provides a measurement of the patient's cholesterol level. It is recommended that individuals over the age of 20 years old receive a cholesterol test every five years. As a patient grows older the frequency of testing may increase.

In understanding more about a cholesterol test, it is important to know what a cholesterol test is, what the test results mean and methods of treatment.

What Is A Cholesterol Test?

A cholesterol test is known as a lipid profile and generally measures the HDL and LDL cholesterol levels as well as the triglycerides. The test is conducted on the blood sample that is drawn by laboratory personnel through a doctor's order.

The test is fairly painless with the only possibility of discomfort due to the insertion of a needle into the patients arm. The opposite end of the needle is inserted into a blood collection tube and the cholesterol test is performed on the blood sample.

In addition, the patient is asked to fast prior to the exam. This simply means that the patient should not eat any food 12 hours before the blood sample is to be collected.

What The Results Mean?

When the lab results come back from the medical laboratory there will be two figures that the doctor will be especially interested in. Those numbers will correspond to HDL and LDL cholesterol levels.

A good LDL cholesterol level should fall in the range of 200 mg or less. This is an optimal level and indicates that the patient is at a lower risk for coronary heart disease. If the LDL cholesterol level ranges from 200 to 239 mg this is considered as borderline. Unfortunately, if the LDL level is 240 mg or higher this indicates a high blood cholesterol level and puts the person at great risk for coronary heart disease.

In regards to the HDL level of cholesterol, less is not better. This means that for a man who has an HDL cholesterol level of 40 mg or less puts that individual at a greater risk for heart disease. This level for women corresponds to a level of 50 mg or less. An optimal HDL level reflected on the cholesterol test should be in the range of 60 mg. or above.

Treatment

There are three basic treatments that a doctor can take in regards to abnormal cholesterol test results. Those three responses can include ordering a low-fat diet, suggesting an exercise regimen and medication.

Often, when a cholesterol test indicates that the HDL and LDL levels of cholesterol are abnormal, the easiest treatment method of normalizing those levels of cholesterol is through diet. Often a doctor will prescribe a low-fat diet which means that the patient will need to eat less animal products. This diet will limit their use of eggs, cheeses, cream cheese, butter, etc. In addition the patient’s intake of red meat and lamb should be limited as well. It is also important that the patient does not eat large amounts of processed food which can contain high levels of saturated fatty foods.

In addition, another treatment method of normalizing cholesterol levels is through exercise. This exercise should be in the form of a highly stimulating cardiovascular exercise routine.

Finally, the doctor may be forced to prescribe medications. These medications can help to reduce or absorb high levels of cholesterol within the blood stream.

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The Atkins diet is probably one of the most controversial diets as it is one that is most argued about. One of the aspects of this low carb diet is the possible affects it may or may not have on cholesterol levels. The Atkins diet and subsequent cholesterol levels have often been debated as although many studies show that this diet lowers cholesterol, others are still adamant that it can significantly raise cholesterol levels. There is no easy answer to appease either side as the fact is the Atkins diet and subsequent cholesterol levels can have different results depending on the person, their exact meal plan and how long they persist in the diet.

The Atkins diet works on the basis that by consuming low carb foods, the body must use fat stores for energy. A lot of people eat high cholesterol foods and this is why the Atkins diet is thought to higher cholesterol levels but advocates claim that as it decreases the amount of fat in the body, cholesterol levels can even be lowered. This tends to work on cholesterol levels if it is based on short term usage and the Atkins diet itself does not only consist of high cholesterol foods. People who use the Atkins diet to lose weight often consume a very high level of fatty and high cholesterol foods. It is important to realize that this should not be a long term lifestyle.

Atkins and Low Cholesterol Diets

Atkins is not generally perceived as a low cholesterol and carbohydrate diet but recent studies have proven this to be the case, at least in the short term. Low carb diets can now be considered as low cholesterol diets and this includes Atkins. The Atkins diet and high cholesterol have always been thought to be linked together and many felt they were sacrificing their cholesterol levels for their weighing scales. Not all of the foods on the Atkins diet are high in calories and bad cholesterol so it is necessary to ensure that foods like red meat are eaten in moderation as there are other alternatives on the Atkins diet. The mistake that many people make is to eat any food allowed and lots of it but any kind of excess can have some detrimental affects to anyone’s health. A safer alternative to the Atkins diet would be to devise a personalized low carb diet which allows only small portions of high fat and cholesterol foods. Discussing this diet with a nutritionist is a great start as is consulting a physician.

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LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, cholesterol has been dubbed bad cholesterol. This bad cholesterol is bad because high level of LDL cholesterol levels in your blood over time can build up in the walls of your arteries that feed the organs in your body. Plaque causes the arteries to become narrow and less flexible, a condition called atherosclerosis. If an artery becomes too narrow or becomes completely blocked by a clot heart attack and stroke can be the result.

A cholesterol test revealing a measured bad cholesterol level of between 130-159 mg/dl is considered to be borderline high. LDL cholesterol blood levels of 160 mg/dl or higher are considered high. Bad cholesterol levels should be held down to 129 mg/dl or lower, anything less than 100 mg/dl is optimal.

Controlling Bad Cholesterol

Controlling high levels of bad cholesterol can be difficult by dietary means alone. Reading labels and ingesting low fat, cholesterol free foods along with increasing regular exercise can help lower LDL cholesterol levels. But having high levels of bad cholesterol also comes from genetics. If your parents and their siblings and their parents generally have higher than normal cholesterol levels it is likely that you will too.

There are many prescription medicines that can help lower bad cholesterol. If you have made proper dietary and lifestyle changes with no result, cholesterol-reducing drugs, known at statins, can be taken. As with any medicine, statins have side effects. Mild side effects such as stomach upset, gas, constipation and cramping usually go away after taking the drug for a short while. Serious side effects while taking statins are rare but include liver problems and muscle pain and weakness. Liver function tests are regularly given to patients using statin drugs to monitor for problems.

Good Cholesterol Must Be Monitored Also

When your cholesterol levels are tested another type of cholesterol, known as high-density lipoprotein or HDL, is measured also. HDL cholesterol is commonly though of as the good cholesterol. Unlike bad cholesterol, low levels (40 mg/dl or less) of HDL cholesterol can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. An HDL cholesterol level of 60 mg/dl is desirable.

Increased Risks As You Age

Monitoring your cholesterol and maintaining healthy levels becomes more and more important as we get older. Aging brings about changes that increase our risks for health problems such as high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Age related diseases such as arthritis cause people to become less active when they get older. So controlling your cholesterol levels become even more important later in life to ensure a long vigorous life.

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