UPDATE ON CHOLESTEROL THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY LDL HDL TRANS FATS AND NATURAL DIETS TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL PART ONE

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Natural Remedies for High Cholesterol

You hear a lot about cholesterol. Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol, triglycerides and trans fats. In general, bad cholesterol, LDL is associated with an increased chance of heart problems. HDL,"good cholesterol" is associated with less heart problems. Trans fats seem to increase the bad cholesterol, LDL. Cholesterol drugs and diets have been in the headlines with a University of Toronto "natural" diet that says 20% cholesterol reduction is possible. Also, controversy has swirled around the well known cholesterol drugs Zetia and Vytorin

The Cholesterol Blood Test What is it

The Lipid Profile blood test that you take at the doctor's office provides values including:

Total cholesterol

HDL good cholesterol

LDL bad cholesterol

Triglycerides





In addition other blood tests may give more data about cardiac risk including:

C reactive protein

homocysteine

The Good Cholesterol, Trans Fats and the Bad Cholesterol: HDL and LDL

Pfizer, the drug company, got a nasty shock when they discovered that a new blockbuster drug they were developing to increase HDL good cholesterol had too many bad side effects. So what is the cholesterol?












When people talk about the good cholesterol and the bad cholesterol they are referring to HDL and LDL. HDL and LDL are lipoproteins, structures created from cholesterol and protein that travel to and from the liver carrying cholesterol.. Trans fats are fats that worsen bad cholesterol. I've mentioned LDL, that is tagged with the moniker "bad cholesterol" but HDLs are called the good cholesterol because high levels of HDL seem to decrease coronary heart disease risk. Routinely doctors say that the HDL acts to carry away the bad cholesterol from the artery walls, however, there is also evidence that HDLs may interfere with LDL oxidation. Oxidation of LDL refers to a chemical process that happens on the LDL and is believed to be one of the steps in the process that leads to heart attack.

Click here to READ ABOUT PROBLEMS WITH ZETIA AND VYTORIN CHOLESTEROL DRUGS

Risk Factors: More Risk Factors For Heart Disease The More You Want to Lower Your Cholesterol

You will see different numbers listed for desirable levels of cholesterol depending on where you look. What is true is that it is even more desirable to have lower levels of bad cholesterol when you have risk factors for heart disease.



Imagine if you will, a person with high cholesterol. Very high cholesterol. Recommendations for the "bad" LDL cholesterol vary but generally 100 or less is satisfactory. Now imagine a person with an LDL of 500 or 1000. Finally, imagine they are just twelve years old! That's the situation that confronts people who have a genetic problem with cholesterol disposal called Familial Hypercholesterolemia. Their bodies don't have the full mechanism for dealing with cholesterol LDL and as a result they are at very increased risk of heart attacks.

Click to Read PART TWO UPDATE ON CHOLESTEROL THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY LDL HDL TRANS FATS AND NATURAL DIETS TO LOWER CHOLESTEROL