What is high cholesterol mean?

Answer 1

Let's be clear first of all by emphasising that somecholesterol in your diet is vital for making certain hormones (including sex hormones and stress hormones), as well as making cell membranes. Cholesterol is made in the liver, but you supplement this by consuming more in your diet.

Now, there are two types of cholesterol: low-density lipoprotein (LDL), otherwise known as "bad" cholesterol; and high-density lipoproteins (HDL), sometimes called "good" cholesterol. LDLs don't travel through your bloodstream very well. If you eat too much LDL, it will eventually build up inside your arteries, leading to blood clots - a key contributing factor to strokes, heart attacks and high blood pressure. HDLs on the other hand, move more freely in the bloodstream, and research has suggested that it can even help remove LDLs from the walls of your blood vessles.

"Elevated cholesterol" can be vague, therefore. Even the most up-to-date cholesterol monitoring devices find it hard to establish between the "good" and "bad" cholesterols. In any case, there is no reason to panic...yet. Obviously, excercise is crucial to prevent fatty deposits from building up in your bloodstream. By changing your diet to consume fewer saturated fats, which raise overall cholesterol levels. Instead, choose poly-unsaturated fats. These are excellent, because they not only lower your overall blood-cholesterol levels; they assisst in keeping the LDL:HDL balance favourable. You can find poly-unsaturated fat in such foods as sunflower oil and oily fish.

If your doctor is still concerned, STATINS may be prescribed. These are drugs which inhibit the enzymes in your liver which produce cholesterol. By taking these you lower the amount of cholesterol in your body. Recent studies have linked them to possible side-effects, but much more research is desperately needed.

In summary, it is important that you are aware of the benefits of some cholesterol in your diet, and that elevated cholesterol is obscure. Nevertheless, you should take heed of any advice your GP gives you, and use this only as a guide-line to help you make informed decisions. In short, don't panic!

Answer 2

"High cholesterol" means an excess of the waxy, fat-like substance in the blood. Most cholesterol comes from eating (animal source) foods high in fat. When cholesterol is released by its carriers (lipoproteins) in the bloodstream, it can form a damaging, vessel-blocking buildup called "plaque". This can eventually completely block the normal flow of blood, and in a major organ such as the heart, this can be life threatening.

(see the related link : American Heart Association)

Answer 3

If you eat a lot of fatty foods you can have high cholesterol. This is a fatty or waxy buildup in your arteries resulting in a blockage if not treated