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Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Q&A Cholesterol - High Cholesterol Level in younger Age

Q: I am still young do I have to be worried about my cholesterol level?

A: Although it is not common for the younger people to have a high cholesterol level, for the most people, it's their lifestyle when they were young (such as eating lots of junk food, smoking etc) that help contribute to have cholesterol problems when they are older. It's better to adapt a healthy lifestyle and make it a habit when we were young therefore it will be easier to lower the cholesterol level when we were old.

There's a condition for young person to have a high cholesterol level which is called Familial Hypercholesterolemia, which is a condition where the liver produce cholesterol more than normal.


Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Q&A: Cholesterol - Stop The Medications

Q: I've reach my recommended cholesterol level, can I stop my medications?

A: The reason your doctor give you the cholesterol medication is to keep your cholesterol level under control, and while doing so you can change your lifestyle (like more physical exercise, change your diets etc) to lower your cholesterol level. For a better result the medication is needed to be taken on a daily basis. It is better to consult your doctor first to know if that ok to stop the cholesterol medication or just to lower the dose.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Q&A: Cholesterol - Physical Exercise

Q: If I exercise a lot and in good form do I have to be worried about my cholesterol level?

A: Even tough it is true that the physical exercise is the best way to increase the levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) in the blood and in the same time maintaining a healthy body weight and improving the total fitness of your heart, however exercising does not guarantee that the levels of you blood cholesterol will be acceptable. There are many other factors that will affect your levels of the blood cholesterol, such as your lifestyle, you diet, smoking, your genetic, your age and gender. The only way to ease your mind about cholesterol would be to see your doctor and have a blood test.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Cholesterol and Cardiovascular Disease

The function of human’s heart is to pump the blood through the body’s circulatory system. The walls of the heart have their own blood vessels.

There are two types of blood vessels: Arteries are the blood vessels that deliver the oxygen and nutrients (include cholesterol). Veins are the blood vessels that carry waste and carbon dioxide away.

A healthy artery is the one which carries the blood containing oxygen and nutrients smoothly like a freeway.

When one has too much cholesterol in their blood steam, the excess cholesterol will start to form a fatty deposit within the arteries wall. This fatty deposit is called Plague. If one does not lower their cholesterol level then this plague will still built up within the arteries wall. If this plaque still continue to build up then the flow of the blood will become slower as blood has trouble flowing through the plaque.

Chest pain can happen when the plaque block a lot of the blood flow, this disease called Angina

If the blockage make the blood cannot deliver the oxygen to the heart, a heart attack can occur.

If the blockage occurs to the blood vessels that go to the brain a stroke can result a stroke.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

How I can prevent cardiovascular disease?

As the general rule, the lower your cholesterol level, the lower possibility you’re going to have a cardiovascular disease. Couple of things you could do to prevent cardiovascular disease would be:

  • Quit Smoking as smoking can put your risk of heart attack or stroke double
  • Avoid Saturated Fat in your diet. As saturated fat put more cholesterol into your blood vessel
  • Include lots and lots of fruit, fish and vegetables in your diet
  • Control your blood pressure
  • Maintain a healthy Weight and do not be Overweight
  • Stay active. Exercise for at least 30 minutes everyday.

However there are things that out of your control that can increase your possibility to have cardiovascular disease that you should be put into some consideration for example:

  • Genetic Factor - if one or both of your parents, or your brothers and sisters have had cardiovascular disease history
  • Age – The older you are, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease is greater.
  • Gender - men are much more likely to die of cardiovascular disease than women. However when women reach menopause, women's risk of having cardiovascular disease will be the same as men.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Cardiovascular Disease Explained

The effect people will have to their health when they do not lower their cholesterol level would be Cardiovascular disease.

The medical term Cardiovascular disease or also known as CVD is a term used to describes various diseases that effect the heart and blood vessels. The most commonly affected blood vessels are the one that go to the eyes, legs, kidneys, heart or brain. However, as the matter of the fact, any blood vessels in the body can be affected.

Some most common of the cardiovascular disease which cholesterol related are as the following;

Heart Attack - it happens when the flow of the blood to the heart is interrupted or it is blocked

Stroke - it happens when the flow of the blood to the brain is interrupted or it is blocked

Angina (Chest pain) - it happens when the blood vessels to the muscle of the heart become narrow and the heart receives less oxygen than it needs

Atherosclerosis - it happens when a block of the cholesterol and other fats accumulates within the wall of an artery (a type of blood vessel)