Prevention Of High Cholesterol
Regularly monitoring your cholesterol levels can also help prevent your numbers from getting too high or low. In general, healthy adults should check their cholesterol every four to six years, but your doctor may ask to check your cholesterol more often depending on your age, overall health, and other risk factors. There are other ways to prevent high cholesterol, too
How The Hdl Cholesterol And Triglycerides Tests Are Done :
If your doctor wants HDL cholesterol and Triglycerides tests on you, you may need to go through these tests. During the HDL cholesterol and Triglycerides blood tests, a pathologist will put a needle into your veins and take out a small quantity of blood. A pathologist is a physician in the medical field who thoroughly studies the causes and effects of disease. Within a few hours you will get your HDL cholesterol and Triglycerides Test reports by your pathologist.
Recommended Reading: Do Pistachio Nuts Lower Cholesterol
How To Lower Triglycerides And Cholesterol Naturally
Your genes, diet, and lifestyle all affect your triglyceride and cholesterol levels. Some people naturally produce more triglycerides and cholesterol than others. This is based on their genetics and family history. Still, these levels are just part of your overall lipid levels, and lifestyle changes are one of the best ways to keep your numbers within a healthy range.
Recommended Reading: Is Peanut Butter Good For High Cholesterol
Does Your Total Cholesterol Number Even Matter
As one of the most ordered lab tests, total cholesterol can provide a high level glance at how your body is handling lipids, or fats. According to the CDC, roughly nine percent of all doctors visits include a cholesterol test.1 So, how should you interpret your total cholesterol value? Is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?
Read Also: What Foods Should You Avoid If You Have High Cholesterol
Data Acquisition And Confidentiality
All collected data were anonymized, preventing reidentification. All procedures were conducted in accordance with the legal provisions of the protection of personal data in Spain and according the European Union Regulations 2016/6799 on the physical protection of the treatment of personal data. The study was compliant with the Declaration of Helsinki. It was approved by the Ethics Committee of the University Research Institute Pere Virgili , including the exemption of the requirement for informed consent.
Also Check: Is High Cholesterol Considered Heart Disease
Also Check: Do Almonds Help Lower Cholesterol
How Can I Lower My Cholesterol
There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol:
- Heart-healthy lifestyle changes, which include:
- Heart-healthy eating. A heart-healthy eating plan limits the amount of saturated and trans fats that you eat. Examples include the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet and the DASH Eating Plan.
- Weight Management. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL cholesterol.
- Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity .
- Managing stress. Research has shown that chronic stress can sometimes raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your HDL cholesterol.
- Quitting smoking.Quitting smoking can raise your HDL cholesterol. Since HDL helps to remove LDL cholesterol from your arteries, having more HDL can help to lower your LDL cholesterol.
- Drug Treatment. If lifestyle changes alone do not lower your cholesterol enough, you may also need to take medicines. There are several types of cholesterol medicines available, including statins. The medicines work in different ways and can have different side effects. Talk to your health care provider about which one is right for you. While you are taking medicines to lower your cholesterol, you should continue with the lifestyle changes.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
High Hdl Cholesterol And Low Triglycerides Can Be Caused By Many Reasons
If your HDL cholesterol is in between 40 mg/dL and 60 mg/dL and your Triglycerides is in between 0 mg/dL and 150 mg/dL then you need not worry as these are the normal ranges for HDL cholesterol and Triglycerides respectively. But if your levels are lesser or greater than the above values, then there may be some problem in your body.
Read Also: What Is A High Cholesterol Number Uk
What Is Total Cholesterol
Total cholesterol can be determined in two ways. It can either be directly measured in the blood, or more commonly, it can also be calculated. The calculation takes into account the two main forms of cholesterol HDL and LDL as well as a small fraction of triglycerides. Any one of these three components can skew total cholesterol values. Heres a brief definition of each:
HDL: High density lipoprotein is a protective form of cholesterol that helps to remove harmful particles from circulation before they can cause damage to blood vessels. This process earned it the nickname good cholesterol.
LDL: Low density lipoprotein is a potentially dangerous type of cholesterol that can become oxidized , which can lead to the hardening of arteries. If LDL builds up, it can lead to blockages which can cause serious cardiovascular incidents. LDL is therefore aptly referred to as the bad cholesterol.
Triglycerides: A form of stored fat that circulates in the bloodstream usually from excess weight, calories, alcohol, lack of exercise, liver damage, or genetics.
How Can I Lower My Ldl Level
There are two main ways to lower your LDL cholesterol:
- Therapeutic lifestyle changes . TLC includes three parts:
- Heart-healthy eating. A heart-healthy eating plan limits the amount of saturated and trans fats that you eat. Examples of eating plans that can lower your cholesterol include the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet and the DASH eating plan.
- Weight Management. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL cholesterol.
- Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity .
- Drug Treatment. If lifestyle changes alone do not lower your cholesterol enough, you may also need to take medicines. There are several types of cholesterol-lowering drugs available, including statins. The medicines work in different ways and can have different side effects. Talk to your health care provider about which one is right for you. While you are taking medicines to lower your cholesterol, you still should continue with the lifestyle changes.
Some people with familial hypercholesterolemia may receive a treatment called lipoprotein apheresis. This treatment uses a filtering machine to remove LDL cholesterol from the blood. Then the machine returns the rest of the blood back to the person.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Recommended Reading: How To Control Ldl Cholesterol
Don’t Miss: What Meat Has The Lowest Cholesterol
Difference Between Ldl And Triglycerides
Low-density lipoprotein is a type of lipoprotein, which helps in the transportation of cholesterol in our body.
Triglyceride is a form of dietary fat synthesized in the liver as well as taken in with certain food types such as meat, dairy products, and cooking oils.
Elevated levels of both these substances in blood are known to be clinical measurements which give a hint towards hypercholesterolemia.
Image Courtesy:
Dont Miss: How To Control Cholesterol Naturally In India
Consequences Of Low Hdl High Triglycerides
Cholesterol gets deposited easily in the blood vessels of these patients and the build-up of cholesterol cannot be cleansed out efficiently due to low level of HDL cholesterol. Consequently, these patients are at very high risk for narrowing of the blood vessels.
HDL cholesterol and triglyceride level serves as an extremely useful test to diagnose Insulin Resistance Syndrome. If your HDL is low and/or your triglyceride level is high, you have Insulin Resistance Syndrome.
Low HDL cholesterol has been known to be a strong risk factor for coronary artery disease for a long time. In 1977, the results of the famous Framingham Heart Study were published in the American Journal of Medicine. In this study, HDL cholesterol was found to be the most potent lipid predictor of coronary heart disease.
Several other studies including the Coronary Primary Prevention Trial , the Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial , and the Lipid Research Clinics Follow-up Study further confirmed the strong relationship between low HDL cholesterol and coronary artery disease.
Raising HDL cholesterol reduces the risk for heart attack. A 1% increase in HDL cholesterol is associated with a 3% decrease in risk of heart disease. This impressive role of HDL cholesterol in preventing heart attack was shown in the famous Veterans Affairs HDL Intervention Trial . The results of this study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1999.
Don’t Miss: Where Is Cholesterol Found In The Cell
What Do The Results Mean
Cholesterol is usually measured in milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood. The information below will help you understand what your test results mean. In general, low LDL levels and high HDL cholesterol levels are good for heart health.
| Total Cholesterol Level |
|---|
| Less than 40 mg/dL | A major risk factor for heart disease |
The LDL listed on your results may say calculated. This means that your LDL level is an estimate based on your total cholesterol, HDL, and triglycerides. Your LDL level may also be measured directly from your blood sample. Either way, you want your LDL number to be low.
A healthy cholesterol level for you may depend on your age, family history, lifestyle, and other risk factors for heart disease, such as high triglyceride levels. Your provider can explain whats right for you.
Recommended Reading: What Lipoprotein Is Responsible For Transporting Cholesterol
Understanding Cholesterol: Hdl Ldl And Triglycerides
There are two types of grocery shoppersthose who race in with a list in hand and meticulously grab every item on the list before checking out and leaving, and those who meander up and down every aisle, not sure what they want until they see it on the shelf.
But within those two types, theres another shopper you may have seenthe label-reader. This person is health-conscious and examines the nutrition labels of food items before placing them in the cart.
One of the most important categories to check for on a food label is cholesterol.
Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance found in your blood. Your body needs some cholesterol, but too much can build up on the walls of your arteries and can lead to heart disease and stroke. Checking your risk for heart disease and stroke is as simple as getting a lipidpanel, which tests your blood cholesterol.
There are four important things checked in a lipid panel:
- Total cholesterol
- Low-density lipoproteins
HDL is known as the good cholesterol because it helps remove cholesterol by carrying it back to the liver where it can be eliminated from the body. Its good to have a high HDL number. LDL is known as the bad cholesterol because having too much LDL may cause a buildup of plaque in your blood vessels. Triglycerides are also a type of fat found in your blood. High triglycerides, low HDL, and/or high LDL numbers can increase your risk for heart attack and stroke.
Also Check: Does The Paleo Diet Lower Cholesterol
Read Also: How To Diet To Lower Cholesterol
Why Cholesterol Matters For Women
Ah, cholesterol and triglycerides. We hear about them all the time. Even foods that might seem good for you on the surface, like fruit-filled yogurt or bran muffins, can contribute to abnormal levels if they contain too much saturated fat or refined sugar, says Erin Michos, M.D., associate director of preventive cardiology at the Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.
Whats more, many women are at risk for high cholesterol and dont realize it. Approximately 45 percent of women over the age of 20 have a total cholesterol of 200 mg/dl and above, which is considered elevated but a survey by the American Heart Association found that 76 percent of women say they dont even know what their cholesterol values are, Michos says.
Scarier still: Triglycerides, a type of blood fat typically measured alongside cholesterol, are even more risky in women compared with men. This is a problem because womens cholesterol levels can fluctuate quite a bit after menopause and tend to increase with age, putting us at greater risk of heart disease and stroke. Knowing your cholesterol numbers and how to control them is a big step toward staying healthy.
Atherosclerosis And Cardiovascular Disease
Despite being called good cholesterol, research suggests that very high levels of HDL may increase your risk of mortality.
In a 2017 Danish study , researchers analyzed the rate of mortality in groups of 52,268 European men and 64,240 women over an average of 6.4 years.
The researchers found the lowest mortality rates at HDL levels of 73 mg/dL in men and 93 mg/dL in women. Mortality rates increased significantly with HDL levels above 97 mg/dL in men and 135 mg/dL in women.
Also Check: What To Take To Reduce Cholesterol
Low Hdl High Triglycerides
Low HDL, High triglycerides is a common cholesterol disorder. However, many people stay focused on LDL cholesterol. Often, they have no clue why they have low HDL, high triglycerides and how to raise HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides level.
There are three types of cholesterol you should know about:
1. HDL cholesterol, also known as the good cholesterol.
2. LDL cholesterol, also known as the bad cholesterol.
3. Triglycerides
Normal Cholesterol High Triglycerides
Even though your latest physical may have shown that your cholesterol levels are normal, you may still be at risk for heart disease if your triglycerides level is high.
A 20-year study conducted by the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine found that a pattern of elevated levels of triglycerides, the main form of fats circulating in the bloodstream, even when cholesterol levels are normal, can mean a two- to three-fold increase of deaths by cardiovascular disease.
Blood triglycerides come from two main sources: the food you eat-especially sugar, animal products and saturated fats-and from your liver. Although its not exactly clear how, high triglyceride levels can result in hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls , which can raise your risk for stroke, heart attack, and heart disease.
- Normal triglyceride levels are less than 150 milligrams per deciliter
- Borderline high is 150-199 mg/dl high is 200-499 mg/dl
- Very high 500 mg/dl. A triglyceride level of 150 mg/dl or above is considered a risk for metabolic syndrome-a constellation of conditions resulting from too much fat around the waist-which in addition to raising your risk for heart disease, it can also increase your risk for diabetes.
You May Like: How To Lower Bad Cholesterol
Don’t Miss: Which Of The Following Foods Contain Cholesterol Sparkpeople
Why Is There Tg In The Blood
The most common reason for elevated triglycerides is prediabetes. Chronically high insulin stimulates adipokines and hormone-sensitive lipase. This results in the release of too many fatty acids from fat cells. These excess fatty acids take up space in HDL and LDL particles.
TG can also become elevated in several inherited diseases.
Dont Miss: How To Reduce Cholesterol In 30 Days
Lower Triglyceride Levels Are Associated With Better Endothelial Function
FMD values were highest in the group with extremely low levels of triglycerides.
-
Lower triglyceride levels are associated with better endothelial function.
-
The group with extremely low triglycerides had fewer atherosclerosis risk factors.
-
The odds ratio for a lower quartile of FMD remained independently lower.
Recommended Reading: Can High Cholesterol Raise Liver Enzymes
Normal Cholesterol With High Triglycerides What Is That
When measuring total cholesterol levels, low-density lipoprotein , high-density lipoprotein , and triglycerides are used in the measurement.
For adults, standard cholesterol levels are:
- Less than 200 mg/dL is desirable
- Between 200 239 mg/dL is considered borderline
- Over 240 mg/dL is considered high
Dont Miss: Do You Need To Fast Before A Cholesterol Test
High Total Cholesterol Normal Ldl Cholesterol Normal Hdl Cholesterol Very High Triglycerides
Even though triglycerides only contribute a small fraction to the total cholesterol value, very high levels can drastically skew this value and are very dangerous. High levels of triglycerides, especially without high levels of HDL or LDL, may indicate issues in the liver, where triglycerides are made. Testing your liver enzymes can help you identify whether there is in fact a problem levels of these enzymes would be high if this were the case. Elevated triglycerides can be damaging to your cardiovascular system, but can also lead to acute pancreatitis , which requires immediate medical attention.3
Recommended Reading: Does Tuna Have Good Or Bad Cholesterol
What Causes Levels To Fluctuate
Triglyceride levels fluctuate naturally in response to many factors, including calorie intake and time of day. Eating a meal can cause an increase in triglycerides, which the body may store to use later when it needs energy.
These fluctuations are typically short-lived, but they are part of the reason why doctors may ask a person to fast before getting a lipid profile blood test.
Some health conditions may increase the risk of higher triglyceride levels. According to the
- hormone medications
- immunosuppressant drugs
Anyone who is uncertain about the side effects of their specific medication should speak with their doctor.
A person can use a few treatments to help lower their triglyceride levels.
How Can You Naturally Lower Tg And Increase Hdl Levels
The most effective ways to improve your TG/HDL are:
- Lose weight. Body fat used to be considered as an inert energy storage tissue. Now we know it is an endocrine tissue that releases chemicals that cause insulin resistance, prediabetes, and CV risk .
- Eat fewer carbs. Get into a lower carbohydrate diet .
- Exercise. Exercise increases HDL levels and lowers TG levels .
- Take niacin. It is one of the few supplements that lowers TG , increases HDL cholesterol levels , and lowers LDL cholesterol levels .
- Get dietary and supplemental omega-3s .
Recommended Reading: Can High Cholesterol Cause Elevated Liver Enzymes
Don’t Miss: How Do I Lower My Triglycerides And Raise My Hdl