Cholesterol - your level, how to reduce it, diets and foods,
information
Advice
Concerning Cholesterol - Information about levels and how
to lower them naturally. Includes links to related web sites and
recommended books and health supplements.
American
Heart Association - Gives complete details on the cholesterol
numbers and what they should be.
Ask the Dietitian
- Question and answer format about cholesterol and saturated fat.
Bupa
- Concise fact sheet explaining the causes, symptoms and treatment
of cholesterol. Available for down loading in Adobe acrobat format.
The Cholesterol Myths
- Review of this issue, written by an independent researcher,
Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD.
Cholesterol Test
- Information about home testing kits which allow you to test
your own level without the expense and delay of going to a doctor.
Eat Fat, Be Healthy
- Information about genetically-caused heart disease due to small-particle
LDL syndrome. Includes questions and answers, book excerpt and
cardiac risk quiz.
Fish Oils
and Cholesterol/Triglycerides - Summaries of research concerning
fish oils and serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Focus on Cholesterol
- List of resources for patients experiencing elevated cholesterol
levels. Explanation of its role in heart disease.
For
Your Health - High Cholesterol Risks - High cholesterol, lipids,
lipoproteins, LDL HDL, triglycerides, and metabolic syndrome.
Offers answers as to what it all means, and how to treat it.
Good News in Cholesterol
- Offers information on how to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
With cholesterol calculation tools and healthy recipes, users
learn how lead a healthy lifestyle vital in the prevention of
heart disease and stroke.
The Healthy
Refrigerator - Nutritional advice and information to reduce
risk of heart problems or manage heart conditions. Recipes, foods
suggestions, facts about heart disease.
How Stuff
Works - Doctor-written seven-part description of cholesterol
and how to avoid its health problems.
Inch Aweigh:
Lowering Your Cholesterol - The Foods - A cholesterol-lowering
guide that explains what to eat, what to avoid and why.
InteliHealth:
Cholesterol - Includes basic information, treatment options,
and an ask-the-expert section. Reviewed by Harvard Medical School.
Kyolic - Causes, treatment,
symptoms and diet and exercise for Cholesterol.
Lifeclinic.com
- Learn why blood cholesterol matters and how to choose foods
to lower your levels.
Lipid Clinic - For
the public and healthcare professionals to learn about the evaluation
and treatment of high cholesterol and lipid abnormalities.
Living
with Cholesterol: AHA - Information for understanding the
facts and reducing your risk factor of heart disease and stroke.
Recipes available.
Lowering
Cholesterol Naturally - Independent information about safely
lowering cholesterol levels through diet and supplements, including
causes and symptoms of high cholesterol, and cholesterol medications
and their side effects on your health.
Mamas Health
- Provides information about Cholesterol. What it is and how to
control it.
MDchoice.com
- In four sections: Informs as to why blood cholesterol matters,
guidelines for heart healthy living, cholesterol in children and
fats and foods tables.
Medbroadcast.com
- Find out how to lower your cholesterol level through diet or
medication.
National
Heart, Lung and Blood Institute - In-depth look at cholesterol
and why it matters, heart disease, benefits from lowering, having
it checked, diet, exercise, weight and many more topics are discussed.
Natural
Healthlinks - Introduction to high and low cholesterol, it's
symptoms, diet, lifestyle changes and dietary supplements that
may be helpful.
Rose
Medical Center - High Cholesterol - An article about cholesterol,
discussing the interpretation of the numbers, good and bad cholesterol
as well as how to fight it when it is high.
Ruchi
Health.com: Cholesterol - Learn about its sources, its effects,
and its roles in the body. Also know about how soya helps to check
high cholesterol.
US
Food and Drug Administration - Information regarding keeping
cholesterol under control. An article by John Henkel.
VAP Cholesterol Test - Atherotech
- Information about the Vertical Auto Profile cholesterol test,
which identifies twice as many people at risk than the traditional
test, including those with inherited risk factors.
Veritas
Medicine - Clinical trial listings for high cholesterol. Perform
a personalized search to find ongoing clinical trials that match
your needs.
WebMDHealth:
Cholesterol Management Health Center - Consumer health site
for cholesterol, written and reviewed by doctors.
What Doctors
Don't Tell You - Information about cholesterol test kits and
how they are being kept off the market by the medical establishment.
When
to Start Cholesterol-Lowering Therapy in Patients With Coronary
Heart Disease - A statement for health care professionals
from the American Heart Association task force on risk reduction.
Cholesterol lowering drugs
Blood
Lipid-Lowering Agents - Pharmacologic information on the major
types of drugs used to lower serum cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol Lowering
Medicines - US NIH National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute
advice on the use of medications to reduce LDL cholesterol. Includes
discussions of statins, bile acid sequestrants, nicotinic acid,
and fibrates.
Cholesterol
Reducing Drugs - American Heart Association encyclopedia article
on drugs for this purpose, discussing conditions treated, possible
side effects, overdose signs, and other topics.
Cholesterol-Lowering
Agents - "Advance for Nurses" professional educational material
about this class of medications and their use in reducing hyperlipidemia.
The Truth
About Cholesterol Lowering Drugs and Cholesterol - Collection
of news stories and other information about the risks of Baycol
and other statins, from Dr. Joseph Mercola, who advocates holistic
treatments emphasizing nutrition.
Cholesterol Information
Cholesterol is a steroid lipid, found in the body tissues (and
blood plasma) of vertebrates. It can be found in large concentrations
within the liver, spinal cord, and brain.
The name originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos
(solid) - researchers first identified cholesterol in solid form
in gallstones.
Cholesterol is primarily synthesized from acetyl CoA in the liver,
although other sites include the intestines, adrenal glands and
reproductive organs.
Cholesterol is an important component of the membranes of cells,
providing stability. It is the major precursor for the synthesis
of vitamin D3, of the various steroid hormones, including cortisol,
cortisone, and aldosterone in the adrenal glands, and of the sex
hormones progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. Cholesterol
is excreted from the liver in the form of a secretion known as
bile; it sometimes crystallizes in the gall bladder to form gallstones.
Mostly insoluble in water, it travels in the blood stream in
the form of lipoproteins. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carries
cholesterol from the liver and intestines to the body cells, while
high-density lipoprotein (HDL) carries it back for excretion.
It is interesting to note that the cholesterol in LDL cholesterol
and the cholesterol in HDL cholesterol are identical. The only
difference between the two is the carrier molecule (i.e. the lipoprotein).
Cholesterol often forms plaque deposits in the walls of arteries,
a condition known as atherosclerosis, which is a major contributor
to coronary heart disease when the buildup is such that it inhibits
blood flow to the heart. The ratio of HDL to LDL is a commonly
performed test, and the higher the ratio of these two, the lower
the risk of heart disease.
The American Heart Association provides a set of guidelines for
total (fasting) blood cholesterol levels and risk for heart disease:
Less than 200 mg/dl
Desirable level corresponding to lower risk for heart disease
Between 200 and 239 mg/dl
Borderline high risk
240 mg/dl or greater
High risk
However, as today's testing methods determine LDL ("bad")
and HDL ("good") cholesterol separately, this simplistic
view has become somewhat outdated. The desirable LDL level is
considered to be 75-130 mg/dl, and a ratio of total cholesterol
to HDL—arguably the most useful measure—of less than
5 mg/dl is thought to be healthy.
Attribition: This informational article is licensed under the
GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article Cholesterol.
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