Cholesterol and Your Health

Cholesterol screening is one of those tests that most doctors recommend a person be tested for, although the time they get tested is in question. Some recommend people get tested around age 40 for high cholesterol, while other doctors test patients with a strong family history of heart disease get tested in their twenties or younger. High cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease and

stroke. You should have a total cholesterol level of around 200mg/dl or less and should have an LDL of less than 100mg/dl and an HDL of greater than about 50mg/dl although that number varies slightly between men and women. LDL cholesterol is considered the “bad” cholesterol that takes cholesterol to the arteries while HDL cholesterol is a molecule that takes cholesterol to be processed by the liver.

The recommended test is the total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and LDL cholesterol blood test, which must be done on a fasting basis to give numbers that are as accurate as possible. If you are looking to see the impact of high cholesterol on a person, you need to do a special test on the heart that looks for hardening of the arteries of the heart. CT Angiogram of the heart looks at the calcium deposits seen so commonly with cholesterol plaques. You can also have a carotid ultrasound test, which is a non-invasive test that looks at the diameter of the carotid arteries and blockages you may be able to see on ultrasound from cholesterol plaques.

The carotid ultrasound checks the amount of narrowing in the arteries, although it is also an indirect measure of the amount of cholesterol in the arteries. It is a more complex test than a blood test for cholesterol but it really shows what is going on in the arteries and decides whether or not a person needs to have a carotid endarterectomy, which gets rid of the carotid plaques. The risk of this procedure is a stroke at the side of the body that the carotid endarterectomy is being done.

If you have an elevated cholesterol, you need to consider ways to reduce cholesterol in your body. It involves a diet low in fat, such as fried foods, and a diet high in green vegetables and fruits. You need to maintain an active lifestyle and exercise for a half hour at least three to four times per week (every other day would be good). Your doctor may also prescribe you with medications to lower your cholesterol level in your blood.

Some people believe that, in the elderly, the healthy diet recommended by the doctor conflicts with their low income and with their enjoyment of food. If this is the case, eat in moderation and just avoid very fatty foods.