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Article by Dr. Jeffery P. Davies

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is described by most medical textbooks as a waxy fat-like substance found in some foods and also made by the liver. Although cholesterol gets a lot of bad press, cholesterol is absolutely necessary for life. Cholesterol is used by all living cells.

A Few of the Important Roles Of Cholesterol* All cells need cholesterol to maintain the structure of their cell membranes. * Some important hormones are derived from cholesterol. * Cholesterol is essential for brain function and protects against depression.

Cholesterol is so important that the body actually manufactures cholesterol. The body has a beautiful way of handling cholesterol to keep everything in balance. If there is not enough cholesterol it makes more. If there is too much cholesterol the body removes it. However when our diet contains too much saturated fat our system becomes overwhelmed with cholesterol and the elaborate system that the body uses for keeping cholesterol in check breaks down.

Some of you may be old enough to remember “The I Love Lucy” episode where Lucy and Ethel are working in a chocolate factory. They are responsible for boxing up the chocolate as it comes down the conveyor belt. Every thing is fine and fun when the belt is moving at the right speed. However when the conveyor belt goes too fast they can’t keep up with all the chocolate. They start stuffing the chocolate in their mouths, aprons and pants to try to keep the chocolate from falling on the floor. This is what happens when we overload our diet with saturated fats. The cholesterol conveyor belt in our body starts moving too fast. The body is unable to package the cholesterol properly and the body starts looking to places to put the excess. One of the places the body put the excess cholesterol is on the blood vessel walls.

Let’s take a little closer look at what goes on in liver which is the cholesterol processing plant of the body. When we eat fats, the fats are absorbed in the intestinal wall. Here the fats are packaged up in little transport submarines called chylomicrons (ky-low-my-crons). The fats cannot travel in the blood stream without these submarines because of the simple fact that oil and water do not mix. The fats are oil and the blood is primarily water. So in order for the fats to travel in the blood stream they have to be transported in submarines. Once in the blood stream the submarines take the fats to the tissues where they are needed. The fats are a good source of energy so if they travel by a muscle that is actively working and in need of energy the muscle snatches up the fats from the submarine. If there is not much activity going on the submarine transports the fats to the fat cells for storage. The fat and muscle cells are interested in unloading only the portion of the fat that they can use.

After the muscle and fat tissue takes off what they can use the sub goes to the liver for repackaging. The empty sub is reloaded with repackaged as a lipoprotein particles. The lipoprotein particles are a combination of lipid and protein. The submarines are then sent back into the circulation. This transport system allows fat molecules to be transported from the place where they are made (the liver) to the place where that are used, namely, fat and muscle tissue. Each time the submarine goes back to the liver to get repackaged, the lipoprotein contains less and less triglyceride. Eventually the LDL (low density lipoprotein, also know as the “bad” cholesterol) gets sent out for delivery. The LDL cholesterol contains very little triglyceride and is mostly cholesterol.

Why is cholesterol important?Please keep in mind that the LDL particles are necessary for health and serve an important purpose. However the problems arise when the system gets overloaded with the LDL particles. If the liver is unable to process all the fats that show up at its door, the orphaned fats are free to roam the streets (blood vessels) looking for trouble. When the roaming LDL particles reach a certain concentration, the LDL starts to stick onto blood vessel walls. This then sets off a whole cascade of bad events that may eventually lead to heart attack and stroke.

Once the LDL binds to the blood vessel wall they are susceptible to be oxidized. The oxidized LDL then starts to attract more LDL particles and the LDL cluster gets bigger and bigger.

The next event that happens in this sequence of bad events is that the growing LDL cluster which I will call a lesion, sets off the inflammation alarms. The inflammation alarm causes the body to send in the soldier cells to try to take care of the situation. You know as well as I when the soldiers are sent into battle, even though they are well-meaning, the process of the battle causes damage to the area where the battle took place. The soldier cells that are sent in are called macrophages meaning large eating cells (“macro” = large; “phage” = to eat). The macrophages start eating the LDL but because there is so much LDL in these lesions the macrophages become what are know as lipid-laden foam cells. Thus these cells that were initially sent in to help the situation actually make the situation much worse. The growing lesion with the LDL and the foam cells becomes what is sometimes described as a pimple on the blood vessel wall. This gives a wrong picture because these plaques generally do not occur in one little area. These lesions occur more in streaks and cover long areas of the blood vessels. As the lesions get worse and worse they develop areas of calcification and develop into what are know as plaques. These calcium containing plaques make it possible for doctors to detect the presence of the plaques with some of the newer imagining techniques.

The plaques are what cause narrowing of the blood vessel and start to cause blood flow problems as the artery becomes smaller and smaller. For many years doctors thought that the blood vessel continued to narrow until it was completely closed and this was what caused the heart attacks and strokes. We know now that these plaques grow slowly enough to allow the body to remodel the blood vessel (the blood vessel bulges out) or grows new blood vessels to by pass the narrow area to maintain blood flow.

The greatest cause of heart attacks and stroke is when the blood vessel suddenly gets blocked. This occurs when plaques that are unstable suddenly burst. The contents of the lesion then attracts platelets and other chemicals that rapidly forms a clot which blocks the blood vessels.

In summary the stable plaques that narrow the blood vessel wall are not as worrisome as the fragile unstable plaques. The body can compensate for the stable plaques but the fragile clots break off, clots form that break off and suddenly close off the blood vessel. before This is what is know as a heart attack.

About the Author

Dr Jeffrey Davies is a board certified family physician and the medical director of St. Luke’s Health Alliance.

Dr. Davies, before going to medical school, was an engineer with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and a Masters degree in biomedical engineering. His experience includes some 13 years working at Mass General Hospital as a biomechanical engineer conducting research on hip and knee replacement surgery. While this career was r

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More Cholesterol Articles

mhlnk.com How To Lower Cholesterol Naturally? Cholesterol is a fat lipid (or droplets) which is produced by the liver and is crucial for normal body functioning. Cholesterol exists in the outer layer of every cell in our body and has many functions. Cholesterol also flows through our blood. Learn more about an all natural supplement that helps lower cholesterol mhlnk.com There are three main types of Cholesterol: Triglycerides – Calories we consume but are not used immediately by our tissues are converted into triglycerides and stored in fat cells. When your body needs energy and there is no food as an energy source, triglycerides will be released from fat cells and used as energy. LDL (low density lipoprotein) – people often refer to it as bad cholesterol. LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to cells. If too much is carried, too much for the cells to use, there can be a harmful buildup of LDL. This lipoprotein can increase the risk of arterial disease if levels rise too high. HDL (high density lipoprotein) – people often refer to it as good cholesterol. Experts say HDL prevents arterial disease. HDL does the opposite of LDL. HDL takes the cholesterol away from the cells and back to the liver. In the liver it is either broken down or expelled from the body as waste. Too much cholesterol (particularly the LDL) can build up in our arteries and interrupt the natural blood flow. The result is a narrowing of the arteries. This is linked to coronary heart disease, chest pain …

Article by Eddie Lamb

You must have heard at least once cholesterol being mentioned by your doctor or family member and if you yet did not find out what it really is and why should you make all the efforts possible in order to maintain its levels, here is your chance.

What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is something which is normally present in our cells and blood stream as it is an important part of our system, which generally helps to produce cell membrane and various types of hormones as well. However, there are two types of cholesterol and they are good cholesterol (HDL) and bad cholesterol (LDL); while the good is essential for our body the bad can cause of fatal heart stokes by clogging of the arteries.

The only way to find out your cholesterol levels is to conduct a blood test. The normal levels of cholesterol are of a maximum 200mg/dL of LDL or less and a minimum of 40mg/dL or more of HDL.

Some doctors calculate the cholesterol ratio in order to make it easier for the patients to understand the cholesterol level.

How to Calculate the Cholesterol Ratio

In order to obtain your cholesterol ratio you first need to obtain the total cholesterol levels and then divide the HDL cholesterol level by the total cholesterol. Personally I always found it easier to calculate the HDL and LDL separately as well as monitor them in that fashion without working with the cholesterol ratio. However many find it easier to calculate and work with their cholesterol when they are aware of their cholesterol ratio.

Controlling Your Cholesterol

Besides the large amount of drugs available on the market for lowering and controlling cholesterol levels you can also play a big role by monitoring your food closely. Items that contain cholesterol and trans or saturated fats should be avoided and you can do so by reading carefully all labels of the food items you purchase.

The saying exercise and eat healthy always applies well and everyday practicing it will bring you a better and longer life. Also regular visits to your doctor will help you keep informed of your cholesterol levels as well as act before it becomes an emergency situation.

Helpful Fact

Cholesterol is not calculated by your weight, you can be slim and yet have high levels of cholesterol therefore, watching the ingredients in your food can often save your life in the long run. Educate your self and lead a richer, healthier life.

About the Author

Eddie Lamb publishes an abundance of information on a range of topical subjects. This article How to Find out Your Cholesterol Ratio, is just one of a host of useful articles about Cholesterol listed on our site map at CholesterolArticles.

Use and distribution of this article is subject to our Publisher Guidelines
whereby the original author’s information and copyright must be included.

Question by Bob: Do built-up plaque and cholesterol in your arteries ever go away if you start a diet and exercise plan?
I know eating poorly and not exercising can lead to a build up of cholesterol and plaque in your heart’s arteries. I am just curious if one starts a diet and exercise program after a bunch of cholesterol has built up, will the build-up go away or is it there forever (other than surgery)?

Thanks for your insight, I appreciate it.

Best answer:

Answer by susan o
Of course it will at least decrease if you have a drastic change in diet.
Or, you could take cholesterol lowering medicines and possibly damage your liver.
There is no surgery that removes arterial deposits.
Exercise helps some but diet is what really does the job. Simply avoid fatty foods like dairy products (milk, cheese, butter). Personally, I’m 65 and have no intention of stopping dairy. I love pastries and chocolates.
The body is designed to handle a certain amount of cholesterol, everyone has SOME cholesterol and it DOES have it’s job to do.

Add your own answer in the comments!

Dr. Jay Heinecke, professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Medicine, reveals how new research suggests HDL, the “good” cholesterol, may also have a harmful side. Renowned for its ability to protect against heart disease, scientists have found the protein composition of HDL plays an important role in whether this kind of cholesterol is helpful or dangerous. A better understanding of these proteins could lead to new, more accurate tests for predicting or evaluating heart disease. To see more videos from the University of Washington visit uwtv.org.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Question by Bleh22: How to deal with cholesterol during pregnancy?
My cholesterol has always been normal, but now that I am pregnant, it keeps getting higher. I am not 8 months pregnant, and it is higher than 5.5 mmol/l , it is now around 8. I am very concerned that the high cholesterol means that I am prone to having cholesterol all my life, even after my pregnancy.

Does it really mean that I now suffer from cholesterol and have to worry about it forever? What can I do about it for now?

Best answer:

Answer by Rachelle
Although you will have to double-check that these foods are all safe during pregnancy, here are a list of foods that help to lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol:

blueberries
almonds
walnuts
pistachios
oats (and other soluable fibre sources)
kidney beans (and other beans)
salmon (and other omega-3-rich foods – not 6 or 9, just 3)
flax (oil and ground – both are important! – note that brown flax has more nutritional value than golden and is less expensive. Also, although you can take capsules, it’s much more effective to use flax oil and whole ground flax right in your food.)
avocados
olive oil (choose this over butter and margarine – my doctor recommended mixing butter and olive oil half-and-half instead of replacing butter with margarine)
garlic (fresh is best, and the more the better. Eat it with parsley to help prevent garlic-breath)
whole-grains (remove as much starch from your diet as you can and eat a LOT of whole-grains. Personally, I love whole-grain pasta, bread, and even pastries, not to mention cereals!)
yogurts with live cultures (probiotics) (plain, unsweetened is always the best)
(you can also take a live probiotic supplement in capsule form)
apples
brown rice
cinnamon
grapes (and pure, unsweetened grape juice)

There are more, but these are the key ones, and the easiest to use. Although soy products are known to lower cholesterol, they should be avoided during pregnancy as they have a hormonal effect. Also, the effect of soy on babies before and after birth is not really known, but many studies show that it’s probably not very good!

Also, eat foods that are as basic as possible – so, when you can make something yourself instead of buying it pre-prepared, that’s best. When you have to use pacaged food, look for simple ingredients. Usually, the shorter the list the better that it is.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Article by cyndia deblosk

Cholesterol can be described as word relating to bad health and fitness, but cholesterol is in reality a natural chemical substance, necessary for the body’s nourishing functioning, and even cholesterol, similar to everything else in our lives, is unhealthy only excessively.

And how has it been, then, how the very identity, cholesterol, has got acquired like bad connotations? Why is that marilyn and i are at all times cautioned to be able to ‘have your cholesterol point checked’ and then ‘know our cholesterol number’? To recognise this further fully, it is important to know the things cholesterol is actually, what it can do, and just where it derives from.

Cholesterol is necessary for people. Our bodies should have it to take care of good overall health, and without the need of cholesterol, in the home . impossible for the bodies to function. Not the different functions regarding cholesterol are usually known, but any of them are:

In making cell walls, giving these products stability and even durability, particularly in this particular nerve material, brain, and spinal cord.

To create bile, where it supports the levels and shipping of weight soluble nutrients, A, D, E in addition to K, which must have for the health.

That will manufacture specific hormones.

The principal source about cholesterol might be from a lot of our bodies. It can be made primarily via the liver, in fact it is sent from your bloodstream to help you where it really is needed by means of special totes called lipoprotiens.

Another approach of obtaining cholesterol is normally from each of our diets. Acid reflux disorder, such mainly because meat, eggs and whole-fat milk products all carry cholesterol. There can be other food items we actually eat, such for the reason that foods full of saturated saturated fats and transfats, that purpose our livers to make more cholesterol.

Cholesterol, such as other excess fat, will not likely dissolve within liquid, and therefore, it has to be carried throughout the bloodstream, by using special service providers called lipoprotiens, to the location where the cholesterol is required. If much more cholesterol is normally circulating inside the bloodstream than is necessary for our systems, it can work with other elements in the blood inside formation about plaque with you artery wall surfaces.

Although cholesterol is often a complex substance consists of many subcomponents, the important subcomponents like they are understood at this time, are LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol, HDL, or perhaps ‘good’ cholesterol, along with triglycerides.

LDL cholesterol is called the ‘bad’ cholesterol, because it is amongst the main aspects in arterial plaque. HDL cholesterol, however, helps to minimize plaque simply by returning too much LDL towards the liver and additionally aiding with its removal. Triglyceride levels correspond to LDL amounts.

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Article by Habibur Rahman

High carbohydrate meals can be the major cause of increasing the levels of your VLDL cholesterol. Very low density cholesterol (VLDL) needs to be controlled comprehensively else it may lead to coronary artery disease which is also known as hardening of the arteries. Coronary artery disease can further lead to a heart attack or stroke.

Why it is necessary to keep tabs on VLDL levels?

Your routine cholesterol test does not include the VLDL cholesterol readings and there is no special method to check your VLDL readings. As it is extremely crucial to know your VLDL level, it is usually derived and estimated through your usual triglyceride readings. The standard reading for VLDL cholesterol should range between 5 mg/dL to 40 mg/dL. VLDL is supposed to be a bad type of cholesterol as elevated levels of it can create a risk of heart attack or stroke. Hence, it is recommended to maintain low levels of VLDL to avoid further health complications.

Very low density lipoprotein cholesterol is the third type of lipoprotein along with HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipoprotein). All these types consist of an amalgam of proteins, fats and triglyceride in varying ratios. HDL contains a large quantity of proteins, thus it is referred to as good cholesterol. LDL contains a large amount of fats and small amounts of proteins, hence it is known as bad cholesterol. VLDL is similar to LDL and is referred to as bad cholesterol.

How do you avoid increasing the levels of your VLDL?

A VLDL cholesterol molecule carries larger amount of triglyceride and cholesterol and is produced in the liver. Liver has the capacity to break the food particles and convert them into carbohydrates and triglyceride, which is then stacked in VLDL. VLDL then carries it to body cells and muscles. VLDL dispenses triglyceride in the blood and part of it is converted into LDL which tends to accumulate on the walls of the blood vessels and clog the normal flow of blood. This results in drastic health complications such as stroke, thickening of arteries or heart attack.

Elevated VLDL cholesterol levels can be due to several reasons such as diabetes, obesity, birth control pills, hereditary, hepatitis, alcohol, cancer, smoking tobacco, etc. For women the concentration of VLDL triglyceride is much lower than men. The best way to reduce your VLDL cholesterol level is by reducing your triglyceride levels. Balancing the entire lipoproteins levels can lower the risk of stroke or heart attack and keep you healthy.

Various means to control VLDL cholesterol

Once your medical practitioner has confirmed your high cholesterol levels, you are required to change your entire lifestyle for the better. Lifestyle changing would involve shedding of excess weight and regular exercising. Exercising has proved to reduce triglyceride levels drastically and increase the HDL levels which help you avoid severe medical conditions. Apart from physical workouts, diet plays a very important part in reducing VLDL. Foods containing soluble fiber, low in sugar, green vegetable, whole grains and fruits can help you lower your VLDL level tremendously.

Consuming a low cholesterol diet will help you reduce weight and also help you lower triglyceride and LDL levels. Foods help you increase the levels of HDL too, thus protecting you from conditions such as stroke or heart attack. There are medications such as niacin or nicotinic acid and fibrates which help in reducing the VLDL levels and increasing the HDL levels. There are many natural supplements like Cordyceps, gugool, etc., which have proven to be effective in balancing the cholesterol levels. Most of these supplements are easily available online.

Balancing VLDL cholesterol level is equally important as balancing LDL or HDL levels. This ensures you of reducing the risk factor in getting a heart attack or stroke or coronary disease.

About the Author

It’s good that you have read so far, that means you have a will to take action!!!Want to know more about Cholesterol Levels ?Read our well informative and FREE report on VLDL cholesterol and more.I’m sure you will benefit as much as we did.

Related Cholesterol Articles

Article by Saadi

There is a lot of talk about high cholesterol, bad cholesterol, and good cholesterol, but what exactly is considered normal levels of cholesterol?

Cholesterol

The world of cholesterol and cholesterol scoring can be rather confusing. Most people think that having high cholesterol is bad, but that is only true of one type of cholesterol. Many people don’t realize that there are actually two kinds of cholesterol and any time you get your levels tested both of these levels are measured.

HDL

The good kind of cholesterol is called HDL or high density lipoprotein. This kind of cholesterol is beneficial to your body and will help to keep the bad levels in check. The normal levels of cholesterol when looking at the HDL numbers are at a score of 60 or above. A score of at least 60 is what you want, but the higher the number the better. If you have an HDL score of fewer than 40 you are at an increased risk for heart disease; which can lead to heart attack.

HDL is fast moving and works as is part of the building blocks that make up your cells, bile, and body. These forms of lipoprotein will also help to move the slower and “bad” cholesterol out of your arteries. For having at least normal levels of cholesterol in HDL is vitally important.

LDL

The other kind of cholesterol is the bad brother to HDL. The bad cholesterol is called LDL or low density lipoprotein. Having a score of less than 100 is optimal for the LDL variety. Of course, your age and family history will help to determine what the normal levels of cholesterol are when it comes to LDL. This type of cholesterol is slow and prone to clogging your arteries; which can lead to stroke or heart attack.

The LDL levels of cholesterol are broken down into several levels because they tend to fluctuate more than the HDL variety.

Basically, if your score is 100 to 120 this is considered normal or close to borderline. At this level your doctor would more likely want to watch your levels, and depending on your HDL rating, you might need to change your diet or look at adding in supplements to try and improve your score.

An LDL score of 130 to 159 is considered borderline. An LDL score of 160 to 189 is also high, but not as serious as a score above that. Any number in this range should be considered serious and immediate changes to lifestyle and diet should be considered.

With LDL cholesterol a score of 190 or higher is considered dangerous and a serious immediate health risk. Your doctor will probably want to put you on prescription drugs immediately. It is also likely that you will be given a required restricted diet and frequent blood level checks until your levels get back under normal levels of cholesterol.

Knowing the normal levels of cholesterol is important because high levels of the bad kind and low levels of the good kind can lead to all sorts of serious medical problems including death.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6720218

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Often times when people hear that their cholesterol level is high from their doctor, they do no understand just what is cholesterol and what its function is in their body. Once you learn this, it becomes easier to manage.
Video Rating: 5 / 5

www.iHealthTube.com Robert Kowalski advises taking plant sterols with your meal to fill your body’s cholesterol receptors, which will block the actual cholesterols from the blood stream. Also watch Part 1-Diet and Part 2-Niacin from iHealthTube.
Video Rating: 4 / 5