Controlling your cholesterol levels can help save your life. When you let your cholesterol levels get out of hand, you put yourself at a higher risk of stroke and heart attack. You can control your cholesterol levels through diet and exercise. If your cholesterol becomes too high, your doctor may prescribe medication to help lower your cholesterol.
History
Cholesterol is a fat found in your blood, according to KidsHealth.org. You have good and bad cholesterol. Good cholesterol is known as high-density lipoprotein, or HDL. Bad cholesterol is referred to as low-density lipoprotein, or LDL. Doctors measure cholesterol in milligrams per deciliter, or mg/dL. A normal, or good, cholesterol level is less than 200 mg/dL, according to the American Heart Association. Cholesterol over 200 mg/dL up to 239 mg/dL is considered borderline high. Cholesterol levels 240 mg/dL and above is high cholesterol. These numbers only refer to your total cholesterol level, which is a combination of your good and bad number.
Significance
Your total cholesterol number is determined by measuring your good and bad cholesterol and averaging the two numbers. Your doctor will perform specific testing to determine your good cholesterol number and your bad cholesterol number. If your cholesterol number is high, this means that your bad cholesterol numbers overpower your good cholesterol numbers. Good cholesterol helps eat away or deplete bad cholesterol. Unsaturated fats, such as fruits and vegetables, provide good cholesterol for your body. Saturated fats, such as snack foods, animal fat and greasy foods, deliver bad cholesterol to your body.
Warning
High cholesterol has no symptoms, according to the Mayo Clinic and the University of Maryland Medical Center. You may feel fine and then suddenly experience a heart attack or stroke. If your health care provider deems it necessary for a prescription medication to control your cholesterol, the medication may make you feel more fatigued than usual. In addition to fatigue from the medication, you may experience constipation, nausea, stomach pain, muscle soreness, gallstones and peptic ulcers.
Prevention/Solution
To avoid taking prescription medications to control your cholesterol, talk to your doctor about eating a healthy diet and exercising. Your doctor can recommend how much exercise you should perform to stay healthy. Cutting saturated fat out of your diet can help tremendously lower your cholesterol. Baking and grilling your food will also help reduce the amount of fat in your foods, as well as consuming fresh foods instead of prepackaged foods, which contain an abundant amount of saturated fats.
Considerations
It's never too late to begin taking charge of your health. By reducing your cholesterol, you can avoid taking prescription drugs, which have many side effects, and reduce the risk of heart attack and other coronary diseases. Ensure that you follow up with your health care provider regularly to monitor your cholesterol levels.
