What can high cholesterol do to the body?
If arteries get clogged, oxygen-rich blood has trouble getting to the heart, damaging the heart muscle. Clogged arteries can also contribute to strokes, peripheral vascular disease, and peripheral artery disease (clogging in the legs and feet.) High cholesterol can contribute to high blood pressure. Accumulation of cholesterol in blood vessel walls decreases their diameter vessels, so blood is pumped through them at a higher pressure.

What factors affect cholesterol level?
Lifestyle

Diet:

• Cut down on saturated fat and high-cholesterol foods.
• Eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains (fiber is good). Oatmeal is particularly good choice.
• Avoid full-fat dairy products. Instead, opt for skim milk, lower fat cheese, lower fat yogurt, and trans-fat free spreads.
• Substitute heart healthy plan oils for butter and lard.
• Eat lean proteins: fish, skinless chicken, and lean meats. Avoid marbled meats and bacon.

Exercise:

• Body weight: Losing weight can help lower cholesterol. Regular exercise can increase HDL (healthy cholesterol) and lower LDL (bad). Thirty minutes a day can have healthy benefits.
• Smoking: Don’t do it.

Biology: We can’t control

• Age: As we all age, cholesterol rises.
• Gender: After menopause, women are at greater risk for higher cholesterol.
• Heredity (family tree): Your genes can determine how much cholesterol your liver produces.
• Diabetes: This disease can alter the balance of LDL and HDL cholesterol.

How is high cholesterol treated?

• Change your lifestyle for six months to see if this lowers your cholesterol.
• When lifestyle isn’t effective, your doctor may prescribe medication. There are two types: statins, which act on liver to block production of cholesterol (Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, for example) and blockers of cholesterol absorption in digestive track — not on the liver directly. The new drug, Zetia, is an example of a blocker. Others include niacin, bile acids, and fibric acid derivatives.

Medication does not replace the lifestyle change. You can’t eat bacon and eggs for breakfast just because you take a statin. Both are both important.

NOTE: If you take cholesterol-lowering meds, like the statins, you need to avoid certain foods which can interfere with their effectiveness. For instance, don’t take them with grapefruit juice.

Dr. Fernstrom’s Bottom Line: Find out your cholesterol numbers. See your doctor for a blood test. If they’re out of balance, evaluate your options. Start with lifestyle changes: diet and exercise. If that doesn’t work, then see your doctor about medications that would be safe and effective for you.

Eating Well with Madelyn Fernstrom The skinny on fat substitutes Eat healthy on a budget Bone up on calcium’s other benefits How safe is food irradiation? What’s your cholesterol IQ?

Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D., CNS, is the founder and director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Weight Management Center. An associate professor of psychiatry, epidemiology, and surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Fernstrom is also a board-certified nutrition specialist from the American College of Nutrition.

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this column should not be construed as providing specific medical advice, but rather to offer readers information to better understand their lives and health. It is not intended to provide an alternative to professional treatment or to replace the services of a physician.

MORE FROM HEALTH

Health Section Front

10 dangerous lies women tell doctors   How Maria Menounos dropped 10 sizes   Organic veggies … at school cafeterias? 6 strategies to crush late-night cravings Emotional overeater: 'I was too young to die' Fat to fit: Joy Fit Club transformations Fake babies ease women's anxiety, sadness Study: Some cereals more than 50% sugar Johnny come lately? Tips to help your man Hoda Kotb: Life is better after cancer Health Section Front   Add Health headlines to your news reader: