Many lifestyle choices affect your risk of developing heart disease. Quit smoking, maintain a healthy weight and exercise regularly. In addition, keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels in check. These actions, combined with limiting fat and cholesterol, can reduce your risk of many types of chronic diseases such as ischemic heart disease.
Ischemic Heart Disease
Ischemic heart disease, sometimes called coronary artery disease, is diagnosed when the heart does not get the blood and oxygen it needs. This occurs when the blood vessels that supply the heart have narrowed. Ischemic heart disease can exist without causing symptoms until a lack of blood and oxygen cause a heart attack. Some patients may experience angina or chest pain and discomfort. Since having high cholesterol can also exist without causing symptoms and because it does increase the risk of developing ischemic heart disease, getting your cholesterol levels tested regularly can help to prevent complications.
Cholesterol
Your body needs some cholesterol to function properly, and not all types of cholesterol are bad. Cholesterol cannot dissolve in the blood, so it must be transported by carriers. One type of carrier is low-density lipoproteins, LDLs, which are considered the bad kind because they take cholesterol to be stored in the body. The other carrier is high-density lipoproteins, HDLs, which are the good kind because they take cholesterol to be excreted. To protect against heart disease, the Texas Heart Institute recommends keeping total cholesterol levels at 200 mg/dL or less. While keeping your total cholesterol levels low is important, it is even more important to know what percentage of your total cholesterol count is HDL and how much is LDL.
LDL and Heart Disease
The higher your cholesterol level, the greater your risk of heart disease. However, having a high level of LDL and low level of HDL raises the risk even more. Since LDL cholesterol is stored in the body, when levels get too high, plaque can build up along the blood vessel walls. This makes the blood vessels hard and narrow. As the plaque builds, there is less space for the blood and oxygen to flow through. If this occurs in blood vessels that supply the heart, ischemic heart disease can develop. To prevent this, everyone 20 and older should have cholesterol tested once every five years, unless a physician recommends more frequent testing. A general goal is to keep LDL levels at 100 mg/dL or less.
HDL and Heart Disease
Since HDL cholesterol is excreted from the body, having a high level protects against heart disease because it can slow plaque buildup along the blood vessel walls. An HDL level below 40 mg/dL raises your risk of heart disease. To protect against complications, MayoClinic.com suggests raising HDL levels to 60 mg/dL or higher. This is especially critical for anyone with other heart disease risk factors.
Prevention
Eating a diet low in calories, salt, fat and cholesterol, yet high in fiber, can help lower your risk. Fiber can inhibit the body from absorbing cholesterol, so getting 25 g to 35 g every day is important. At least 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days will also lower LDL levels and raise HDL levels, notes Cleveland Clinic. Maintaining healthy weight and blood pressure also needs to be part of the plan.
References
- American Heart Association: Silent Ischemia and Ischemic Heart Disease
- Texas Heart Institute: Cholesterol
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: High Blood Cholesterol: What You Need To Know
- MayoClinic.com: Cholesterol Levels: What Numbers Should You Aim For?
- Cleveland Clinic: Cholesterol Guidelines
