Cholesterol can work to your advantage or disadvantage; it all depends on your lifestyle and dietary choices. Your health depends on the choices you make. It is a matter of quality, versus fighting your way through heart blockages and multiple medications just to keep you alive. Knowledge is power; take as much knowledge as you can, and use it to protect your heart.
Significance
High cholesterol levels are major risk factors for heart disease, heart attack and stroke. The higher your cholesterol, the narrower your artery walls become. Learning how to prevent high cholesterol, or lower high cholesterol when it develops, is the key to decreasing your risk of life-threatening health complications.
Function
Cholesterol is not bad. Your body creates it to form cells and nerves, and produce hormones. Your body produces only the amount necessary for these functions; excess amounts come primarily from the foods you eat. In some cases it is due to genetics.
Doctors focus on two main types of cholesterol -- LDL, bad cholesterol, and HDL, good cholesterol. Your LDL increases your risk of developing heart disease when it's too high. The excess amounts travel through your blood, collecting in the walls of your arteries.
HDL cholesterol helps decrease your risk of heart disease by traveling through your blood, collecting excess amounts of LDL, transporting it to the liver which then excretes it from your body. Whereas your LDL levels need to be low, your HDL cholesterol need must be high to be effective. In cases when your HDL levels are too low, your risk of developing heart disease is equal to that of a person with high LDL.
Identification
Poor cholesterol levels do not have any symptoms; there is only one way to detect the amount of cholesterol in your blood -- through a blood test called a lipid profile.
An average, healthy adults can have this test once every five years, however, if you have abnormal levels, your doctor may require you undergo testing more frequently. The results of the test determines treatment.
Risks
Some people have more risk factors for high cholesterol than others. Knowing and identifying your risk factors can prompt you to take preventative measures that may protect your health.
These risk factors include poor eating habits, smoking, leading a sedentary lifestyle, having high blood pressure, a family history of heart disease and other medical conditions such as diabetes.
Prevention/Solution
Recognizing your risk factors is one piece of the puzzle, changing them is the other. If you smoke, quit. Talk to your doctor about smoking cessation products or programs you may be best suited for.
Lose weight if necessary; even five or 10 lbs. can make a difference, according to Mayo Clinic.
Increase your daily activity, exercising at least 30 minutes a day. Take a walk, jog or bike. Choose an activity you enjoy so you will continue with it.
