HIGH CHOLESTEROL RISKS ARE NUMEROUS

What does it mean to have a high cholesterol risk? There are several factors that can contribute to a high cholesterol risk, and understanding what they are gives you the best opportunity to deal with them before they create long term health problems.

While elevated cholesterol itself is not a problem, it can increase your chances of developing coronary heart disease. There are two types of high cholesterol risk factors - those that are considered uncontrollable, such as gender, age, and family history, and those which are controllable, including various life style factors.

Uncontrollable factors include:

Gender: Up until about 50, men typically have higher cholesterol levels than men. However, after menopause, a woman's LDL level (also known as "bad" cholesterol) increases, as does her risk for heart disease.

Age: As we age our cholesterol levels rise. Men over 45, and women over 55 are considered to be more likely to develop high cholesterol. This may, however, be partly due to other factors, such as reduced activity levels (see below).

Family history: Heredity is also a factor. If you have a father or brother who was affected by early heart disease before age 55, or a mother or sister who was affected by early heart disease (before age 65 in women) this is considered an increased risk factor.

Controllable factors include:

Diet: This is considered to be the most important factor of all in determining your chances of having cholesterol problems - it is also, therefore, the area that offers the most hope for dealing with the problem. The biggest issue is the amount of saturated fat in the food you eat - eating saturated fat stimulates the production of LDL cholesterol in the liver. Over time it builds up and leads to arteriosclerosis, hardening of the arteries.

Weight: Another important factor, and often related to excessive consumption of saturated fats. If you are overweight or obese it can make levels of the bad, LDL cholesterol level go up, and your levels of good, HDL, go down.

Physical activity/exercise: By exercising regularly you can lower LDL cholesterol and raise HDL cholesterol levels. It will also, of course, help you to lose weight.

Smoking: Smoking has been shown to reduce the levels of good, HDL cholesterol.

Alcohol: Alcohol is fine in moderation, but excessive amounts can make levels of the bad, LDL cholesterol level go up, and your levels of good, HDL, go down.

By making changes to your lifestyle you can make dramatic improvements in your cholesterol levels, and in particular to the ratio of HDL to LDL in the blood.  Why is this so important?  It's because of the different roles HDL and LDL play.

Cholesterol is a natural substance that the body needs, in appropriate amounts. Sometimes the body makes too much however, and that's where the ratio of HDL and LDL are important.

While LDL is the vehicle that transports cholesterol around the body, HDL works to take excess cholesterol back to the lover to be disposed of. If HDL levels are low, the body is overwhelmed, and the excess cholesterol builds up in your arteries.

Eventually this leads to blockages and hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis), a key factor in developing heart disease. By taking steps to lower your cholesterol levels you can thus reduce the chance of suffering from heart disease.