High Cholesterol Level: Risk Factors, Treatment Options

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a type of fat (lipid) made by the body. About 80% of cholesterol is made by the body, the other 20% comes from the diet. Cholesterol is a building block for cell membranes. Our body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones (e.g., progesterone, estrogen, testosterone), vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat.

Many foods contain cholesterol and high intake of these foods can increase the level of cholesterol in the blood. Having too much cholesterol in the blood is not a disease in itself, but high cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia) can cause the formation and accumulation of plaque deposits in the arteries. Plaque is composed of cholesterol, other fatty substances, fibrous tissue, and calcium. When it builds up in the arteries, it results in the hardening and narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis) in the major vascular systems.

Narrowing of the arteries around the heart (coronary heart disease) can prevent the heart from getting as much oxygen-rich blood as it needs, increasing the risk of a heart attack. Decreased blood flow to the brain can cause a stroke, and less blood flowing to the lower limbs may result in exercise-related pain or even gangrene.

Having a high cholesterol level does not cause symptoms and does not make you feel sick. If there is a huge excess, some people develop soft, yellowish skin growths called xanthomas, usually in the area near the eyes. Most people find out they have high cholesterol when they have their blood cholesterol measured as part of a medical check-up.

Types of Cholesterol

Cholesterol is not soluble in water and doesn’t mix easily with blood. In order to be able to travel in the bloodstream, the cholesterol made in the liver is combined with protein and other substances. This cholesterol-protein package is called a lipoprotein. Lipoprotein then carries the cholesterol through the bloodstream.

Lipoproteins can be high density (HDL), low density (LDL) or very low density (VLDL), depending on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

LDL (low density lipoprotein)

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is called the “bad” cholesterol. About 70% of cholesterol is transported as LDL. This is mostly fat and not much protein. LDL causes cholesterol to be deposited in the arteries. High levels of LDL are associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease.

HDL (high density lipoprotein)

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is called the “good” cholesterol. It carries cholesterol from the body’s tissues back to the liver. About 20% of cholesterol is transported as HDL, which is mostly protein and not much fat. HDL cholesterol may help protect against atherosclerosis by preventing cholesterol from depositing on arterial walls as it circulates in the bloodstream.

Risks factors

There are several factors that may contribute to high cholesterol level in the blood:

• Genetic predisposition. People are at a higher risk of high cholesterol if they have a direct male relative aged under 55 or female relative aged under 65 affected by coronary heart disease.
• Diet high in saturated fat. Saturated fat and cholesterol come from animal foods such as beef, pork, veal, milk, eggs, butter, and cheese.
• Sedentary lifestyle. Lack of exercise may increase LDL cholesterol and decrease HDL cholesterol. Regular physical activity may lower triglycerides and raise HDL cholesterol levels.
• Overweight. Excess weight may modestly increase your LDL (bad) cholesterol level.
• Age and sex. Cholesterol generally rises slightly with increasing age, and men are more likely to be affected than women.
• Drinking alcohol excessively. Drinking too much alcohol can damage the liver and heart muscle.
• Diabetes. Diabetes is a significant risk factor for all cardiovascular diseases.
• Smoking. This applies not only if you smoke, but also if you live or work every day with people who smoke.

Treatment options

Lifestyle changes such as changing diet, managing weight, increasing exercise, and quitting smoking are the first steps to improving blood levels of cholesterol. If these changes are not enough, your physician might recommend cholesterol-lowering prescription medication.

Medications to improve blood cholesterol levels include:

• Statins – are the most widely used, and also the most powerful medications for lowering LDL cholesterol. They work by reducing the production of cholesterol in the liver. Statins not only lower blood LDL cholesterol levels, they also modestly increase HDL cholesterol levels and modestly decrease triglyceride levels. These medications are usually well tolerated, have few side effects, and are taken once or twice a day. Currently, six statin drugs are available: atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), simvastatin (Zocor), and rosuvastatin (Crestor).
• Bile acid sequestrants – these drugs bind with cholesterol-containing bile acids in the intestines and are then eliminated in the stool. They typically lower cholesterol by 10 to 20%. Small doses of sequestrants can produce useful reductions in LDL cholesterol. Cholestyramine (Questran, Questran Light), colestipol (Colestid), and colesevelam (WelChol) are the 3 main bile acid sequestrants currently available. Bile acid resins are mainly used in young adults with hypercholesterolemia or in combination with another cholesterol-lowering medication.
• Cholesterol absorption inhibitors – are a new class of cholesterol lowering agents approved in 2002. Drugs in this class work to lower blood cholesterol levels by absorbing excess cholesterol in the intestines and thus blocking cholesterol’s entry into the bloodstream. Ezetimibe (Zetia) is the first drug in this class. Ezetimibe reduces LDL cholesterol by 18-20%. It is probably most useful in people who cannot take statins or as an additional drug for people who take statins but who notice side effects when the statin dose is increased. Adding ezetimibe to a statin is equivalent to doubling or tripling the statin dose.
• Nicotinic acid or niacin - this water-soluble B vitamin improves all lipoproteins when given in doses well above the vitamin requirement. Nicotinic acid lowers total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, while raising HDL cholesterol levels. Niacin also widens blood vessels, making flushing and hot flashes frequent side effects.
• Fibrates – these cholesterol-lowering drugs are primarily effective in lowering triglycerides and, to a lesser extent, increasing HDL cholesterol levels. These drugs include fenofibrate (Tricor) and gemfibrozil (Lopid).

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A Lower Cholesterol Diet

A lower cholesterol diet is necessary not only for those at risk of a heart disease, but for practically everyone. This is to prevent the person from being diagnosed with any heart disease, instead of waiting for the symptoms before you start maintaining this kind of diet.

It is easy to follow a low cholesterol diet. Lower your cholesterol by giving up some food that you have always loved – but not completely. This kind of diet does not necessarily mean you have to cut yourself off from all the food that you love.

Manufacturers are becoming more aware of the health concerns of the people. Thus more products are being manufactured which are both low in cholesterol and low in fat.

Cholesterol lowering diets must first and foremost include fruits and vegetables because they are low in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Some even lower the cholesterol levels that are already inside your body – namely fruits such as apricots and apples, and vegetables such as cabbages and sweet potatoes. Fruits and vegetables, in general, contain no traces of cholesterol but provide valuable vitamins and nutrients that your body can use.

Next, try to reduce the consumption of saturated fats. These saturated fats could raise your cholesterol levels into the danger zone, where you would be at risk of getting heart diseases.

Avoid any kind of food which says that it has partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, such as those found in shortenings and margarines. They contain trans-fat, a type of saturated fat that raises the blood cholesterol levels and leads to the formation of a waxy material that clogs the arteries.

When buying oil, you should get olive and canola oil, both of which are high in monounsaturated fat. Alternatively, get vegetable oil, which is high in polyunsaturated fat. These unsaturated fats can lower your blood cholesterol and keep your body healthy.

For your diet, there are certain nutrients that you should look for in your food. One of these is soluble fiber, found in beans and oatmeal. Soluble fiber reduces the level of bad cholesterol in your blood by reducing the absorption of cholesterol in your intestines. You should consume these food several times a week to maximize its effects of decreasing bad cholesterol.

When you eat meat, you should also purchase lean meat. Meat is often considered as an unhealthy food, but if you purchase lean meat, then the fatty part of the meat is disposed of. Without the fatty part, the meat left is low in cholesterol and high in protein. You could also purchase meats which are by themselves much leaner already than other kinds of meat. For example, instead of ground beef for hamburgers, you could use ground turkey meat.

A lowering cholesterol diet is easy. It doesn’t mean you have to give up a lot of food – you can still enjoy the exquisite flavors you have always loved. It is different for each person, but finding the right balance of healthy food for yourself would do nothing but amazing things for your health, so that you can live a longer, happier life.

For more information and help, you might want to visit: lower cholesterol diet.

Vincent Siew markets a product for people who worry about having a stroke or a heart attack because they have high cholesterol like he used to have. Do you know anyone who might like to know about a product like that? Tell him or her to find out more about it today: For more information and ideas, please visit his website at: http://www.thenaturalloweringcholesterol.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/a-lower-cholesterol-diet-1645259.html

Cholesterol BAD?

The first thought that comes to a person’s mind when buying something with high cholesterol level would be “NO! I don’t want to end my life with a heart attack!!” They are probably right but CAN THEY POSSIBLY LIVE WITH NO CHOLESTEROL AT ALL? Cholesterol is the cause of number of diseases related to heart but on the other side it is an essential sterol that gets converted to other steroid hormones. Not to mention that the cholesterol intake level of a person is proportional inversely to the cholesterol synthesized by the body itself. So is cholesterol really a nightmare or is this just another misconception?

Cholesterol is a lipid found in the tissues of all the animals, associated with other sterols. It is the best known member of the biological group – sterol, a combination of steroid and an alcohol. Most of the cholesterol is produced inside the body and only a minute quantity has dietary origin.

Almost of 20-25% of the total daily production occurs in the liver. The other sites include the intestines, suprarenal glands and reproductive organs. This cholesterol is either converted to other hormones, transported to cell that require cholesterol or secreted via bile into the intestines. Of the cholesterol poured into the intestines, 92-97% is reabsorbed in the intestines and recycled via the enterohepatic circulation. The cholesterol, insoluble in blood, of the diet is transported to the liver from the intestines, where it is absorbed, within the lipoproteins – chilomicrons, Very Low Density Proteins (VLDL), Intermediate Density Lipoproteins (IDL), Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) & High Density Lipoproteins (HDL).

Cholesterol is mainly obtained from food having saturated fatty acids and is also synthesized from acetate inside the body. Normally the total amount of cholesterol from these two sources remains constant because the rate of cholesterol synthesis in the liver is under feedback control. When the dietary intake is high, liver synthesis is low; when intake is low, synthesis increases.

LDL is the major transport protein for cholesterol, supplying both free and esterified cholesterol to body tissues. High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) is involved in the transport of cholesterol to the liver to be broken down and excreted, and in removing some LDL cholesterol from artery walls. The esterified cholesterol is essential for a cell to maintain the fluidity of membrane over a wide range of temperature, so the cells use this esterified cholesterol for its maintenance. If the cholesterol is not esterified, the cells pushes it and the free cholesterol comes in the cholesterol, which sometimes along with Ca++ accumulates in the capillaries causing embolus formation and coronary obstruction.

The significance of cholesterol cannot be neglected. Some researched indicate that cholesterol might be used as an anti-oxidant. Besides that it also maintains the fluidity of the cell membranes. The cholesterol content of a membrane varies with the tissue and with specific membrane function. The ratio of cholesterol to polar lipids affects the stability, permeability, and protein mobility of a membrane. Membranes with high ratios have high stability and relatively low permeability; their major function is a protective barrier.

They serve primarily in synthetic and degradative reactions and energy production. It also reduces the permeability of hydrogen and sodium ions. In addition to its role in membrane structure cholesterol has other important functions. Cholesterol is stored in the adrenals, testes, and ovaries, chiefly as the fatty acid ester, and converted to steroid hormones. These hormones include the male and female sex hormones (androgens and estrogens) as well as the adrenal corticoids (cortisol, corticosterone, aldosterone, and others). In the liver cholesterol is the precursor of the bile acids, 24 steroid carboxylic acids that aid in the digestion of foods, especially lipids, and, when linked with the amino acids glycine or taurine, form the bile salts. Recently it has been suggested that cholesterol assists in the formation of lipid rafts in the membrane.

Besides the numerous functions of cholesterol, high free cholesterol level in the blood can cause life threatening problems as well. As mentioned above LDL is involved in the transportation of cholesterol. But high levels of LDL or free cholesterol in the blood causes the cholesterol to deposit in the blood capillaries hence narrowing the lumen of the vessels. The narrowed vessels increase the blood pressure and may lead to its rupture and ultimately causing an embolus. In the brain, it causes cerebro-vascular accidents and in heart it causes Ischemic Heart Disease. High LDL level are major cause for the arthrosclerosis of the arteries, leading to coronary heart disease and other forms of cardiovascular disease. However increase levels of HDL not only transport cholesterol to the liver to be broken down and excreted but also remove LDL cholesterol from the artery walls.

It has been suggested that abnormally low levels of cholesterol might cause depression, cancer and cerebral hemorrhage but it unclear whether cholesterol itself is responsible for it or something else associated with low levels of cholesterol. Esterified cholesterol when crystallizes in the gall bladder, is the major cause of formation of gall stones which leads to severe pain in near the liver region.

Cholesterol is present in many dietary components that we consume daily. This cholesterol is called the dietary cholesterol. Its percentage is significantly higher in animal fats (saturated fats), eggs, yolks, beef, poultry, liver, kidneys, and shrimps. Besides these, plants and fungi also contain trace amounts of cholesterol so even a vegetarian’s diet has cholesterol in it but in trace amounts.

Although the intake level of cholesterol must be kept low but not so low so as to lead to its deficiency which would the affect the normal anatomical and physiological state of the body. Since the total cholesterol level in the body almost always remains same so people with higher cholesterol intake maybe at the same risk of having a heart attack as those with lower cholesterol intake. An effective way to keep the cholesterol balance healthful and beneficial to the body is by exercising regularly whether walking, sprinting, or working out in the gym. With this, the benefits of cholesterol would dominate its harms and the body would function normally at its optimum performance.

Author: Umar Majeed
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Natural Ways To Lower Cholesterol – 5 Natural Treatment Tips To Lower Cholesterol Quickly

How long does it take to lower cholesterol? That is a question that seems to plague almost anyone who suffers from high cholesterol. If youre suffering from high cholesterol, lowering your cholesterol level can never be fast enough; whether you’re seeking a natural way to lower cholesterol or via some other alternative treatment. According to an article by CNN in November 2006, more than 70 million Americans live everyday with some form of heart disease.” And the number is expected to rise steadily over the next 10 years.

Heart disease is Americas number one killer and probably, the number one killer in the industrialized world. The myth being perpetuated that cholesterol is never high before the age 40 is exactly that a myth. Dont believe a word of it.

The facts necessitate a quick guide to lowering your cholesterol quickly preferably opting for a natural and alternative treatment for high cholesterol.

But first for some good news. Cholesterol contrary to popular belief is not the cause of heart disease. The inflammation of arteries does that. Heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. Thats right. There’s a lot of misinformation being passed around that cholesterol is bad – that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease. That’s so far from the truth. In fact, your body needs cholesterol to stay healthy. Your body uses cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D and bile acids to digest fat. And the truth of the matter is – your body requires only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs.

So why should you worry about lowering your cholesterol levels and maintaining it preferably at less than 200mg./dl.? Because failure in doing so can lead to the inflammation of your arteries … and that is when cardiovascular events like heart attacks will occur. It’s only when you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream (referred to as hypercholesterolemia) that problems start to arise. And this is where you need to pay attention. Because a high cholesterol level … let’s say north of 250, can and will lead to problems such as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis clogs arteries including your coronary arteries (arteries that feed the heart) and if left unchecked overtime, will lead to heart disease like angina and heart attack.

This is why you need to lower your cholesterol level and why it’s so important to keep those levels in check. Statins such as Zocor and Lipitor may be powerful, cholesterol-lowering drugs and helps to some extent, but … whether you believe it or not … these can cause more damage (liver toxicity is a common side effect) than good to your body in the long run. You don’t need these ill-effects creeping into your life just as you’re about to kick back and enjoy your retirement.

Don’t get me wrong … I’m all for taking prescriptions drugs under doctor’s orders if no other alternatives are made available. I’m sure you’ll agree with that.

But Im about to show you 5 tips you can go about lowering your unhealthy cholesterol levels without drugs right now and fast!

Heres how to lower your cholesterol the natural way:

Consume more healthy” fats

You must have heard of monounsaturated fats. Usually found in some types of nuts like almonds and walnuts, olive oils, canola oils and avocados. These healthy” fats lower bad” cholesterol (LDLs Low-Density Lipoproteins) but at the same time, help maintain the good” cholesterol (HDLs High-Density Lipoproteins).

Your doctor can vouch for the fact that consuming monounsaturated fat instead of saturated fat can lower your cholesterol levels quite drastically. You would have probably come across health advice about lowering cholesterol such as, Replace whole milk with skim milk,” Cut down on that refined sugar,” or Dump butter for margarine.” Most of that information is true except for dumping butter for margarine. Margarine increases the bad cholesterol and even worse, lowers the good cholesterol almost tripling the risk of a coronary heart disease.

Dont believe the TV ads and stay away from margarine. Dr. Allan Spreen calls margarine, plastic butter.” And he has a point. Why? Because being hydrogenated, margarine is in fact one molecule away from actually being plastic no kidding! To put it mildly, youre actually about one molecule away from eating Tupperware. Youre more than welcome to carry out a simple test to prove this. All you have to do is leave a container of butter and a container of margarine out for a while and watch. It will only be a matter of time when you see flies hovering your container of butter – avoiding the margarine altogether. If it’s not good enough for flies, you know you’re in trouble!

Lower your intake of bad” fat

Lowering cholesterol without drugs begins with this very important step simply limit your consumption of saturated fat. Saturated fat is said to stimulate your liver to produce LDLs or bad cholesterol that would simply clog up your arteries. According to Dr William Castelli, co-author of Good Fat, Bad Fat, he recommended that a smart diet to help lower cholesterol would take into consideration the amount of bad” fat consumed per day ideally being 20 grams a day. And thats just for those who are healthy.

A good idea would be to simply check your food labels when grocery shopping to get a sense of how much fat grams will be going into your body at any given day. Make this a habit because a simple precautionary measure like this can mean a lot to your long-term health.

Also, take note of trans-fatty acids. The name probably already gives it away it is another bad fat. Trans-fatty acids are chemically processed and will not only raise your total cholesterol levels but can also lower your HDLs. These acids are usually found in deep-fried fast foods, biscuits, shortenings and packaged pastries. Theyre not usually indicated on food labels so be extra prudent about your food choices.

Get a blood test

You will want to get a blood test if you find yourself gaining weight, losing hair, feeling depressed, feeling more tired than usual, more sensitive to cold than usual and sudden stiffening of your joints. These could be symptoms of an underactive thyroid medically termed as hypothyroidism. Diagnosing this condition with a blood test could nip the problem in the bud and save you from a rising cholesterol level.

While youre at it, ask your doctor to check your homocysteine level as well. Recent studies are pointing towards homocysteine as a better predictor of cardiovascular events. And there is a connection between hypothyroidism, homocysteine and heart disease. If you have an underactive thyroid, this prevents the absorption of B vitamins causing homocysteine levels to shoot up. The result is a 300 percent risk of a heart attack.

A good homocysteine level is under 8. Anything above that and your doctor should be able to prescribe you some supplements. These supplements would usually center around vitamins B2, B6, B12 and folate.

Can I have my eggs back?

Yes, you definitely can. According to the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin, dietary cholesterol in eggs “has no clinically significant impact” on heart disease. In fact, eggs are such a rich source of nutrients that avoiding them could cause more damage than good to your health.

I mentioned homocysteine. Well, according to a study from Harvard Medical School, choline may be effective in managing homocysteine. And where is choline found? You guessed it. Eggs. In fact the best source of choline is egg yolks. But if youre someone with elevated cholesterol or heart disease, you should check with your doctor about the number of eggs you can consume per week. Such cases are usually limited to two eggs per week.

Stop smoking and get moving!

Those are two obvious actions to take to keep your body in good working order. If youre overweight, you can be sure that your HDL readings will be low. Shed the weight and watch your HDLs rise. Its quite difficult to raise HDLs by dieting alone. You will need the combination of regular exercising and watching what you eat. Exercising helps in lowering your triglycerides (a blood fat linked to heart disease) as well. If you are serious about lowering your cholesterol levels, pay attention to triglycerides. Because apart from clogging up your coronary arteries, high triglycerides can lead to kidney disease and pancreatitis.

There is not much to be said about smoking that has not been said already. Its just bad. Smoking depresses HDLs considerably. It is a cause of heart and blood-vessel disease and basically causes irreversible damage to your overall health. There are no two ways about it. Smoking kills.

Here is a rough checklist to monitor your cholesterol levels and as always, consult with your doctor.

LDLs

Keep it less than 130mg./dl. Anything above 160mg./dl. is high.

HDLS

The higher the better. 35mg./dl. or less increases the risk of heart-disease.

Triglycerides

Keep it less than 150mg./dl. Anything above 200mg./dl. is high.

Total cholesterol

This is the combined measure of all blood cholesterols. Keep this less than 200mg./dl. Anything above 240mg./dl. is high.

Author: Rafael Todorini
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Knowing Your Cholesterol Limits

Everybody has their own normal cholesterol limits. This number is different for each person. Knowing the cholesterol limit for your body would help you manage your body so that you can remain perfectly healthy. With that said, knowing what your limits are can be a difficult task. Every doctor or physician you ask has different views in just how much cholesterol your body can take.

There are actually two types of cholesterol limits that you have to think of. The first type of cholesterol is the low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. What this type of cholesterol does is that it provides cholesterol to the different cells in your body as it moves along the bloodstream. However, this is the bad kind of cholesterol. If at the end of its journey, there is still some LDL cholesterol left, it would deposit itself on the walls of your arteries. This is what leads to blocked or clogged arteries, which is the main cause of strokes and heart attacks. The average number that people should target for the LDL cholesterol in their blood is below 130 mg/dl, or below 130 milligrams per deciliter of blood. Those suffering from a heart and circulatory system condition need to target a much lower number of around 100 mg/dl or lower.

The second type of cholesterol is the high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. This type of cholesterol, on the other hand, gathers the LDL cholesterol that has built up in your bloodstream and safely deposits it in your liver, where it is transformed into bile that your intestines can use in the digestive process. The more you have of this type of cholesterol, the healthier and cleaner your circulatory system would be. The average number that people should target for the HDL cholesterol in their blood is above 40 mg/dl. Above 50 mg/dl would be better.

Another important fact to consider is the cholesterol ratio between LDL and HDL cholesterol. It is important to have a certain ratio to keep a balance inside your body – both cholesterol types have their functions, and you need sufficient amounts for both of them even though one type could be bad for your body if in excess. The ratio to target is above 0.3 for HDL to LDL, with above 0.4 being a better number.

To know the exact levels of cholesterol that you have in your body, you can have a lipid panel or lipid profile reviewed. This blood test reports the amount of the total cholesterol in your body, as well as both LDL and HDL cholesterol levels. For an accurate measurement of cholesterol levels, it is advised to not eat or drink anything besides water for 9 to 12 hours prior to the test.

Now that you know and understand your cholesterol limits, you can check it against the cholesterol levels in your body after the blood test. You can then adjust your diet and lifestyle according to what you need to do to control the cholesterol in your body – to keep yourself healthy.

If that does not make much difference, you might want to try one of the cholesterol supplements called bioslife complete to see if it works for you the way it did for me.

For more information and help, you might want to visit: cholesterol limits.

Vincent Siew markets a product for people who worry about having a stroke or a heart attack because they have high cholesterol like he used to have. Do you know anyone who might like to know about a product like that? Tell him or her to find out more about it today: For more information and ideas, please visit his website at: http://www.thenaturalloweringcholesterol.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/knowing-your-cholesterol-limits-1617107.html

Cholesterol and Heart Disease – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

And if you have high cholesterol, you would feel the same as if you had low cholesterol because there are no side effects, no symptoms of having high cholesterol. Mark Spitz, winner of 9 Olympic gold medals in swimming.

Heart disease remains the leading killer of men and women in the United States. Each year, 1,200,000 people suffer a coronary heart attack, and about 40% of them die. An American dies of a coronary event roughly every 65 seconds. Abnormal cholesterol, besides smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and physical inactivity, remains one of the main modifiable risk factors for coronary heart disease.

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol. Comedian Steven Wright. But we should. Abnormal cholesterol levels can clog up your arteries. There are several hundred studies confirming the dangerous health effects of abnormal cholesterol levels. The Framingham Heart Study found that under age 50, total cholesterol levels directly correlated with 30-year overall and cardiovascular mortality. For each 10 mg/dl increase in cholesterol, there is an overall increase in death of 5% and cardiovascular death of 9%. Abnormal cholesterol levels are also implicated in contributing to stroke, limb amputation, erectile dysfunction, Alzheimers disease and kidney failure.

Cholesterol is not totally a bad thing. Cholesterol keeps cell membranes fluid, flexible and functional. Cholesterol helps in the manufacture of bile, and thereby helps in the digestion of fats. It is also important for the metabolism of fat soluble vitamins, including vitamins A, D, E and K. It is involved as a major precursor in the synthesis of vitamin D and many steroid hormones, including the adrenal hormones cortisol and aldosterone, and the sex hormones progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and their derivatives. Cholesterol is water insoluble, and is carried to its destinations by lipoproteins. About 80% of the cholesterol is made by the liver via carbohydrate metabolism through the HMG-CoA reductase pathway. This amounts to about 1000 mg per day. Diet in the Western countries adds about 200 – 300 mg for intestinal intake. Most of dietary cholesterol comes from animal food, including meat, poultry, fish, egg yolk, butter, cheese and whole milk. Trans fats are hydrogenated fats and are found in margarine and many commercially prepared processed and deep fried foods like cookies, cakes, crackers, french fries and donuts. These are also unhealthy and consumption is associated with atherosclerosis. Plant sources of food ( fruits, vegetables, nuts and cereals ) are free of cholesterol. Phytosterols found in certain plant products like flax seed and peanuts may actually help lower serum cholesterol. However, cooking oils of plant origin, especially palm and coconut oil, are high in saturated fats and are heart unhealthy. But there’s another kind of fat called essential fatty acids. These are unsaturated fats and include omega-3 and omega-6 fats. These help are cell membranes and are required for the production of certain hormones that are essential for blood clotting, blood pressure control, and eye and brain function. Overall, they lower blood pressure and cholesterol, and reduce mortality from heart disease.

Somewhere, over the rainbow, way up tall, there’s a land where they’ve never heard of cholesterol. Musician Allan Sherman. However, in the real world, we have to monitor its levels. Total cholesterol should be measured after a 9 to 12 hour fast. A level of less than 200 mg/dl is desirable. A level of 200 to 239 mg/dl is borderline high and a level above 240 mg/dl is associated with a higher risk of coronary heart disease. However, a lipoprotein analysis is more reliable as it better profiles the risk. A lipid profile gives the levels of the bad low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, the good high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and the triglycerides. LDL levels should ideally be less than 100 mg/dl. Levels over 160 are high and associated with an increased risk of heart disease. HDL provides protection against heart disease if it above 60 mg/dl. A level less than 40 mg/dl is associated with increased heart disease. Triglyceride levels should be less than 150 mg/dl. Higher levels, especially when associated with abnormal LDL or HDL levels, increase your risk of heart disease.

Does lowering cholesterol help? Scientific medical literature is filled with research data confirming the beneficial effects of lowering cholesterol. A 1995 study called the West of Scotland Coronary Prevention Study (WOSCOPS) followed 6500 men with high cholesterol levels for 5 years. One half the people were given a cholesterol reducing statin drug, provostatin, while the other were given a placebo. The drug reduced the total cholesterol levels by 20 percent and the bad LDL cholesterol levels by 26 percent. The heart attack risk was reduced by 31 percent in those receiving the statin drug. The need for bypass surgery or angioplasty was reduced by 37 percent. Overall deaths from all causes were reduced by 22 percent, and deaths from cardiovascular causes by 32 percent. In 1998, the results of the Air Force/Texas Coronary Atherosclerosis Prevention Study (AFCAPS/TexCAPS) showed that cholesterol lowering with another statin drug, lovastatin, also reduced the risk of a first major coronary event by 37 percent when given to generally healthy men and women with average cholesterol levels. The total cholesterol levels in the treatment group were lowered by 18 percent and LDL-cholesterol levels by 25 percent, after a year of treatment. Like in the WOSCOPS study, significant reductions in events were also noted: heart attack was reduced 40 percent, unstable angina 32 percent, the need for bypass surgery or angioplasty 33 percent, and all cardiovascular events 25 percent. Recent scientific data suggests that higher doses of statins may provide even greater benefits.

The commonly used drugs to lower high total cholesterol or the bad LDL cholesterol are statins. The statins lower cholesterol by inhibiting the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. Inhibition of this enzyme in the liver results in an increased clearance of LDL from the bloodstream and a decrease in blood cholesterol levels. Results are seen as early as after one week. Maximal effect occurs after four to six weeks. There are over ten statin drugs available commercially in the United States. Other agents are also available to reduce total cholesterol and LDL levels and act mainly by preventing absorption of the cholesterol in the intestines. They are often used in combination with the statins. Although the statins can raise the good HDL cholesterol, this effect is small. HDL can be raised by the common vitamin niacin. A class of drugs called fibrates not only help raise HDL but also help lower triglycerides.

There are many ways to improve the lipid profile without drugs. Reduce the amount of animal fats and saturated fats you consume. Regular exercise and weight loss not only will help reduce the LDL and triglyceride levels, but also raise the good HDL levels. Moderate alcohol intake also increases HDL cholesterol .Eating more fruits and vegetables and consuming more monounsaturated fats also improves the lipid profile. Remember, our health always seems much more valuable after we lose it. So let us listen to the motivational speaker Jim Rohn, who said, Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.

Author: Shashi Agarwal MD
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Nutritional Approaches for Reducing Cholesterol Levels – Part 1

Why You Should be Concerned about Cholesterol

Your body makes all the cholesterol you need. Your body uses cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that digest fat. When cholesterol is reabsorbed into the bloodstream, it is carried to the arteries by a lipoprotein (fat/protein complex) call low-density lipoprotein (LDL). If a large proportion of your cholesterol is combined with LDL it is more likely to be deposited in the walls of the arteries. High cholesterol is directly related to conditions such as arteriosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, circulatory problems, heart attack, and hypertension. Another lipoprotein called high-density lipoprotein (HDL) can take cholesterol out of the arteries and back to the liver, where it is broken down for removal from the body. HDL has been called the good cholesterol because the higher a persons HDL cholesterol compared to their LDL cholesterol, the lower the risk for heart disease.

It is important to distinguish between serum cholesterol and dietary cholesterol. Serum cholesterol is the cholesterol in the bloodstream. Dietary cholesterol is cholesterol that is present in food. Cholesterol levels are greatly influenced by diet as well as your genetic makeup. The consumption of foods high in cholesterol and/or saturated fat increases cholesterol levels, while a vegetarian diet, regular exercise, and the nutrient vitamin C may lower cholesterol.

Diets high in soluble fiber, hence a diet high in fruits, grains and vegetables, have been shown to normalize serum cholesterol levels. Soluble fiber binds with bile acids and cholesterol, interfering with the absorption of dietary fat and cholesterol, as well as with the recirculation of cholesterol and bile acids, resulting in reduced blood cholesterol levels Vitamin C may also be a factor is lowering cholesterol. In his book The Optimum Nutrition Bible, Paul Holford presents an interesting aspect of vitamin C. Vitamin C is involved in making the collagen that keeps skin and arteries supple and during our evolution we lost the ability to manufacture vitamin C in our bodies because fruit was so abundant. However, when we did not eat enough fruit and became deficient in vitamin C, our bodies produced arterial plaque (the little fat deposits) to coat our arteries to patch up the various tears from wear and tear. The arterial plaque started out as a kind of soupy oatmeal like substance like mortar filling in bricks on a brick wall, it was doing the job of the vitamin Crepairing normal cellular damage. However, it doesnt quite work out, and the soupy oatmeal dries to a hard coating, hardening the arterial walls, rather than keeping them supple. Hence, the importance of keeping vitamin C levels constant over time for arterial health.

What is the Recommended Level of Total Serum Cholesterol?

The National Cholesterol Education Program (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) has a set of guidelines for cholesterol levels. It recommends that everyone age 20 and older should have their cholesterol measured at least once every 5 years. A blood test called a lipoprotein profile is considered the best way to find out your cholesterol numbers. This blood test is done after a 9- to 12-hour fast and gives information about your:

Total cholesterol

LDL cholesterol

HDL cholesterol

Triglycerides, which are another form of fat in your blood

If it is not possible to get a lipoprotein profile done, knowing your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol can give you a general idea about your cholesterol levels. If your total cholesterol is 200 milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL) or more or if your HDL is less than 40 mg/dL, you will need to have a lipoprotein profile done.

A total cholesterol level less than 200 mg/dL is desirable. A level of 200 to 239 is borderline high and levels over 240 mg/dL are high. A LDL cholesterol level less than 100 mg/dL is optimal. A level of 100 to 129 mg/dL is near optimal to above optimal. A level of 130 to 159 mg/dL is borderline high, 160 to 189 mg/dL is high and levels at or above 190 mg/dL is very high.

HDL cholesterol protects against heart disease, so for HDL, higher numbers are better. A level less than 40 mg/dL is low and is considered a major risk factor because it increases your risk for developing heart disease. HDL levels of 60 mg/dL or more help to lower your risk for heart disease.

Triglycerides can also raise heart disease risk. Levels that are borderline high (150-199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or more) may need treatment in some people.

In Part 2, find out about the variety of things that can affect cholesterol levels, and which of those things you can do something about and those you cannot do anything about; and things to consider in a cholesterol reduction plan.

Copyright 2006. Mary El-Baz. All rights reserved.

Author: Mary El-Baz, PhD
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Programmable pressure cooker

Cholesterol- Getting Down to the Basics

Blood cholesterol levels have been proven to be a major, modifiable risk factor for the development of heart disease. A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease. The fact that high cholesterol is a modifiable risk factor is important. Unlike your gender or your age, the cholesterol level in your blood is something you have the ability to change. High cholesterol levels can be treated with lifestyle modifications, supplements and/or prescription medication. Treatment to change blood cholesterol levels have been shown to lower your risk of getting heart disease or having a heart attack or stroke.

Cholesterol builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, this buildup causes “hardening of the arteries” so that arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked. You can imagine what that looks like if you think about the pipes under your kitchen sink. As they get clogged with food, grease and hair over time, the drainage of water slows and eventually stops completely. Since blood travels through these arteries, or pipes, to carry oxygen to your muscles, organs and tissues including your heart, a blockage could reduce enough blood and oxygen to your heart that you may suffer chest pain, called angina. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack. If this blockage occurs in your brain, the result is a stroke.

High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms; so there are a lot of people that are completely unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or stroke. Even if you have already had a heart attack or stroke, lower cholesterol will reduce your chance of having second one. Cholesterol lowering is important for everyone–younger, middle age, and older adults; women and men; and people with or without heart disease.

There are different kinds of cholesterol in your blood that can measured through a simple blood test preformed at your doctors office. This blood test must be preformed fasting, which means you can not eat or drink anything but water or black coffee for 8-12 hours before your blood test for them to be accurate.

What is LDL?

LDL (bad) cholesterol is the main source of buildup and blockage in the arteries. The majority of LDL is created by your body in your liver. A smaller percentage of it is absorbed through your diet. An easy way for patients to remember LDL is the bad cholesterol is to think the L in LDL stands for Lousy cholesterol, or the one you want to Lower.With this form of cholesterol, studies have shown the lower the better. Babies are born with an LDL of 30-40, so it is hard to lower the LDL too much. Since physicians and various guidelines have different goals for different patients, ask your doctor what your personal goal is for LDL.

What is HDL?

HDL (good) cholesterol helps keep bad cholesterol from building up in the arteries. An easy way for patients to remember this is the good cholesterol is the H in HDL stands for Healthy cholesterol or the one you want to be Higher. Studies show that with this form of cholesterol, the higher the better. If your HDL is below 40, it becomes an additional risk factor for heart disease. If your HDL is above 60, it actually allows you to subtract one of your other risk factors.

What Is Triglicerides?

Triglycerides are another form of fat in your blood which is often high in patients with diabetes, but can be high in anyone. Some patients may only have high triglycerides while all other cholesterol values remain normal. If you have both high triglycerides and high cholesterol, the condition is called mixed dyslipidemia.

What Does Total Cholesterol To HDL Ratio Mean?

Another number that clinical studies have shown to be important in determining your risk of heart disease is the ratio of Total Cholesterol to HDL Cholesterol. In general, it should be less than 4.0. Ask your doctor what your value is, and what your specific goal should be. Again this is a number where the lower it is, the better.

The level of your LDL or bad cholesterol along with the number of other risk factors that you may have for developing heart disease will help your doctor decide not only your individual cholesterol goals, but if necessary what your individual treatment will include.Other risk factors for heart disease include age, gender (males), cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, HDL levels below 40, and a family history of early heart disease. Even though physical activity (sedentary lifestyle) and obesity are not included on this list, these are conditions that need to be corrected as well.

There are several treatment options for patients depending on individual test results and goals. All treatments should include a diet designed to lower cholesterol intake and an exercise plan. Many treatment plans will include dietary supplements and/or prescription medication(s). There are a variety of prescription medications that can target your specific treatment needs, including but not limited to lowering the amount of LDL created by the liver, lowering the amount of LDL that is absorbed from your intestines, increasing levels of HDL or lowering levels of triglycerides.Your doctor may put you on one, or a variety of medications to meet your individual treatment goals.

Blood cholesterol levels have been proven to be a major, modifiable risk factor for the development of heart disease. A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease. A modifiable risk factor is something you have the ability to change. High cholesterol levels can be treated with lifestyle modifications, supplement and/or prescription medication. Treatment to change blood cholesterol levels have been shown to lower your risk of getting heart disease or having a heart attack or stroke.

There are many different types of cholesterol lowering medications that your doctor may prescribe, however these prescriptions can cause certain nutritional deficiencies that may increase your risk for side effects or diminish the risk reduction you would otherwise get from the cholesterol lowering medications. NutraMD Cholesterol Essential Nutrients supplement was designed to work with your cholesterol lowering medications by replacing lost nutrients reducing the risk of dangerous side effects, and promote better health.

Medications for treatment of High Cholesterol:

The three main classes include statins, fibrates, and bile acid sequestrants.

Statins include the following medications: Lipitor (atorvastatin) Zocor (simvastatin) Pravachol (pravastatin). Mevacor (lovastatin) Crestor (rosuvastatin) Advicor (lovastatin + niacin). Caduet (atorvastatin + amlodipine).

The main function of statins is to reduce an individuals risk for cardiovascular disease (i.e., heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, atherosclerosis, arteriosclerosis, and plaque development in arteries) by reducing the total and LDL cholesterol levels as well as by reducing certain plaque promoting factors and increasing artery dilating factors.Your doctor may prescribe a statin if you have high cholesterol or have had heart attack or stroke in the past. If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure or diabetes but do not have high cholesterol, your doctor may still prescribe a statin to reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease. Statins help lower cholesterol by blocking it’s direct synthesis throughout the body but primarily in the liver, however the action of the medication also blocks the synthesis of Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) and has a potential negative effect on the synthesis of vitamin D.

* CoQ10 deficiency has been linked to the following diseases and symptoms:

Congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, rhabdomyolysis (muscle break down), muscle and joint pain, and fatigue.

Therefore to achieve maximum benefit from the statin medication and minimize potential side effects of nutrient deficiencies, you should compliment your prescription medication by taking NutraMD Cholesterol Essential Nutrients supplement. By doing this you will balance the risk/benefit ratio further in your favor.

Fibrates include the following medications:

Tricor, Antara, and Lofibra (fenofibrates) Lopid (gemfibrozil).

The main functions of fibrates are to lower triglycerides and raise HDL (good cholesterol). These medicines also have a mild lowering effect on LDL (bad cholesterol) and total cholesterol. Your doctor may prescribe fibrates in combination with a statin or bile acid sequestrants. The down side of fibrates is there ability to increase muscle pain and myalgia (including rhabdomyolysis).11-15 These medications also have the ability to raise homocysteine levels.11-15 Homocysteine is a chemical (amino acid metabolite) which when elevated is a risk factor for heart disease, atherosclerosis, stroke, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and osteoporosis. The only substances known to lower homocysteine levels are the B-vitamins (folate, riboflavin, cobalamin, and pyridoxine).Therefore to reduce the potential risks while taking fibrates, you should also be taking NutraMD Cholesterol Essential Nutrients supplement.

Bile Acid Sequestrants include the following medications:

Questran or Questran Light (cholestyramine) Welchol (colesevelam HCl).

The main functions of bile acid sequestrants are to lower cholesterol by binding to it in the intestine and preventing its absorption thus allowing its excretion in the feces. Your doctor may prescribe this type of medicine in combination with fibrates and statins. Unfortunately, bile acid sequestrants will also bind to vitamins A, D, E, and K as well as essential fats in the intestine preventing their absorption into the blood stream thus leading to their deficiencies. A few of the problems which arise from deficiencies of vitamins A, D, E, K, and essential fatty acids include the following: Heart disease, high cholesterol, stroke, high triglycerides, cancer, thyroid disease, autoimmune disease, bone disease, arthritis, joint pain, muscle pain, cataracts, skin lesions, allergies, and many other.Therefore, to reduce potential side effects of nutrient deficiencies you should take NutraMD Cholesterol Essential Nutrients supplement as long as you are on bile acid sequestrants.

In summary, cholesterol-lowering medications prescribed by your doctor are necessary to treat your condition; however, you should also be aware that the long term potential nutritional side effects can be just as big a risk factor for your condition as well as other conditions. Put the odds in your favor and maintain your health with NutraMD Cholesterol Essential Nutrients supplement.

Author: Don Ford, M.D.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Smart cooker

The Cholesterol Conspiracy – The Truth About Statins And Nutritional Supplementation

“All truth passes through three stages.

First, it is ridiculed.

Second, it is violently opposed.

Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788 – 1860)

What is the true cause of heart disease, and how can we truly reduce the risk of death?

Atherosclerosis, or Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), is the leading cause of death in both men and women. In the U.S. alone, there are more than one million heart attacks every year, one third of them resulting in death. The majority of men and women currently have, or are actively developing, atherosclerosis. By age 20, most people already have a 15-25% narrowing of their arteries due to plaque formation. By age 40, there is a 30-50% clogging of their arteries.

In the beginning of the Twentieth Century, congestive heart disease (CHD) was mostly a result of rheumatic fever, which was a childhood disease. However by the year 1936 there was a dramatic change in the main cause of heart disease. Cardiovascular disease caused by atherosclerosis, or plaque buildup, took first place as the primary cause of heart disease, making congestive heart failure a distant second.

During the 1950′s, the autopsies conducted on men who died of heart disease that revealed plaque-clogged arteries concluded that cholesterol was the cause of hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and coronary artery disease. Cholesterol, not calcium, was considered the “cause” of heart disease, despite plaque consisting of 95% calcium and a relatively small percentage of cholesterol. By 1956 there were 600,000 deaths annually from heart disease in the U.S. Of those 600,000, 90% were caused by atherosclerosis, or clogged arteries. In fewer than 25 years, the number one cause of death in the U.S. had changed dramatically …from congestive heart disease to coronary artery disease.

Because cholesterol was dubbed the “cause” of atherosclerosis, the effort to lower cholesterol by any means began in earnest. Both the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry seized upon this opportunity to cash in on a cholesterol-lowering campaign by creating foods and drugs that would supposedly save lives. Diets, such as the Prudent Diet, were established to lower the amount of cholesterol intake from food. There was no doubt that both polyunsaturated oils and drugs reduced cholesterol, but by 1966 it was also apparent that lowering cholesterol did not translate into a reduced risk of death from heart disease.

As there was so much money to be made from pharmaceutical development, the campaign to produce cholesterol-lowering drugs kicked into high gear, despite the lack of evidence showing that the lowering cholesterol reduced the risk of untimely death from heart disease.

Heart disease kills 725,000 Americans annually, with women accounting for 2/3 or nearly 500,000 of those deaths. After thirty years of cholesterol-lowering medications’ failure to significantly lower the death rate from cardiovascular disease, in 1987 a new and more dangerous class of drugs was unleashed upon the world: the “statin” drugs. Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are now the standard of care that physicians are indoctrinated into prescribing to reduce cardiovascular disease. Are statin drugs the best way to prevent heart attacks and death?

Before 1936 the most common type of heart disease was congestive heart disease (CHD). It rarely caused sudden death and could be treated with the drug digitalis. The incidence of CHD remained stable until 1987, after which the incidence of the disease skyrocketed. Interestingly, the timing of the increased incidence of congestive heart disease coincides with the introduction of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs. Could cholesterol-lowering statin drugs have something to do with the weakening of heart muscles and the increased incidence of congestive heart failure? We will see that lowering the body’s co-enzyme Q10 levels, a side effect of statin drugs, does indeed increase the risk of muscle damage, including the muscles of the heart.

Atherosclerosis is a disease characterized primarily by inflammation of the arterial lining caused by oxidative damage from homocysteine, a toxic amino acid intermediary found in everyone. Homocsyteine, in combination with other free radicals and toxins, oxidizes arteries, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides, which in turn releases C Reactive Protein (CRP) from the liver-a marker of an inflammatory response within the arteries. Inflammation (oxidation) is the beginning of plaque buildup and ultimately, cardiovascular disease. Plaque, combined with the thickening of arterial smooth muscles, arterial spasms, and clotting, puts a person at a high risk of suffering heart attack or stroke.

For years, doctors have hyper-focused on cholesterol levels. First it was the total cholesterol; later the focus became the ratio of “good” HDL cholesterol to “bad” LDL cholesterol. In other words, how much of your cholesterol was good, and how much was bad? Of the two, the important parameter is the level of HDL cholesterol, not LDL cholesterol. HDL, or high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, is responsible for clearing out the LDL cholesterol that sticks to arterial walls. Exercise, vitamins, minerals, and other antioxidants, particularly the bioflavonoid and olive polyphenol antioxidants, increase HDL cholesterol levels and protect the LDL cholesterol from oxidative damage, and therefore do more to reduce the risk of heart disease than any medication ever could.

There is nothing inherently bad about LDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is critical to maintain life. LDL cholesterol only becomes “bad” when it is damaged, or oxidized by free radicals. Only the damaged, or oxidized form of LDL cholesterol sticks to the arterial walls to initiate the formation of plaque.

Let us look towards cigarette smoking for a simple example demonstrating that we really need to reduce oxidized LDL cholesterol to prevent atherosclerosis, as opposed to indiscriminately lowering LDL cholesterol with statin drugs. Everyone knows that cigarette smoking increases the risk of many chronic diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Smokers with normal levels of LDL cholesterol are at an even greater risk of developing heart disease than a non-smoker who has elevated levels of LDL cholesterol. Of course the reason why a smoker with normal levels of LDL cholesterol is at greater risk of disease is because his LDL gets excessively oxidized.

Cigarette smoke releases so many toxins and free radicals that the LDL cholesterol, the triglycerides, and the arterial walls are extensively oxidized. Homocysteine levels are also increased by cigarette smoking which further oxidizes LDL cholesterol and the arterial lining. Oxidation is the initiating cause of atherosclerosis. Therefore, the more and longer one smokes, the more oxidative damage he sustains and the greater his risk of developing heart disease. The degree of oxidation directly corresponds to the risk of heart disease.

If you are not taking vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants then your LDL cholesterol is being oxidized, it is sticking to your arterial walls, and you ARE developing heart disease EVEN IF YOUR CHOLESTEROL LEVELS ARE NORMAL! LDL cholesterol starts sticking to arterial walls before the age of 5.

Among the many free radicals that damage cholesterol, triglycerides and the arterial lining is homocysteine, a toxic intermediate biochemical produced during the conversion of the amino acid methionine into another important amino acid, cysteine. Both methionine and cysteine are non-toxic, but homocysteine is very toxic to the lining of the arterial endothelium. Homocysteine oxidizes LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and the arterial lining.

Homocysteine is an amino acid normally produced in small amounts from the amino acid methionine. The normal role of homocysteine in the body is to control growth and support bone and tissue formation. However a problem arises when homocysteine levels in the body are elevated, causing excessive damage to LDL cholesterol, as well as to arteries. Furthermore, homocysteine actually stimulates growth of arteriosclerotic plaque, which leads to heart disease.

Thyroid hormone controls the level of homocysteine, but numerous factors play a role in the elevation of homocysteine. Normal aging, kidney failure, smoking, some medications, and industrial toxins all elevate homocysteine levels. Interestingly, estrogen helps lower homocysteine.

Homocysteine becomes elevated in the blood with a deficiency of the B vitamins-B6, B12 and folic acid. Genetics also play a role. About 12% of the population has an undetected defect requiring higher levels of folic acid than the rest of population to help maintain homocysteine levels in a safe range (below 6.5). Therefore if you have high homocysteine levels (> 7.0) even though you are taking supplemental B complex vitamins, then you may be among the 12% who need more than 1000 mcg of folic acid per day. In addition, betaine, also known as trimethylglycine (TMG) lowers homocysteine.

Homocysteine is second only to cigarette smoking in its oxidative destruction. It causes small nicks or tears in the arterial lining, while also oxidizing and damaging LDL cholesterol. The damaged, or oxidized LDL cholesterol sticks to the homocysteine-damaged areas of the arterial lining. The combination of oxidized LDL cholesterol and a damaged arterial lining is what causes LDL cholesterol to stick to the arteries, whether or not the LDL cholesterol level is normal.

Cholesterol-lowering statin drugs are the standard for treating high cholesterol. This is dogma, and anyone who states otherwise is committing medical heresy. Many people find it hard to believe that pharmaceutical companies could ever succeed in paying medical researchers, medical associations, and doctors to recommend something detrimental to our health.

Most people do not know that pharmaceutical companies fund medical institutions, medical education, medical conferences, and still reward doctors and research institutions for providing favorable results on their drugs. Likewise, pharmaceutical companies often suppress negative results from studies done on their drugs. Money has the power to sweep negative results and serious side effects under the rug. Money has the power to influence the FDA to decide which drugs make it to market and which drugs become the “standard” of treatment.

Former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Dr. Marcia Angell, warned of the problem of commercializing scientific research in her outgoing editorial titled “Is Academic Medicine for Sale?” Angell called for stronger restrictions on pharmaceutical stock ownership and other financial incentives for researchers. She said that growing conflicts of interest were tainting science, warning “When the boundaries between industry and academic medicine become as blurred as they are now, the business goals of industry influence the mission of medical schools in multiple ways.” She did not discount the benefits of research but said, “a Faustian bargain” now existed between medical schools and the pharmaceutical industry. Angell left the NEJM in June 2000 and has written a book, “The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It.”

Two years later, in June 2002, the NEJM announced that it was going to begin accepting articles that were written by biased researchers, as there weren’t enough unbiased researchers left to write articles. In other words, most research institutions were now funded by one or more of the numerous pharmaceutical companies.

An ABC report noted that a survey of clinical trials revealed that when a drug company did not fund a study, favorable results regarding a drug were found only 50% of the time. In studies funded by drug companies favorable results about the drugs were reported an amazing 90% of the time. Money can and does buy the desired results. This is how most medical research and drugs are now developed and brought to market.

In 1977, the internationally-renowned heart surgeon, Dr. Michael DeBakey pointed out that only 30-40% of people with blocked arteries and heart disease have elevated blood cholesterol levels, and posed the logical question, “How do you explain the other 60-70%?”

Because lowering cholesterol did not reduce the risk of death from heart disease, the Cholesterol Consensus Conference in 1984 developed new guidelines to lower the “acceptable level” of cholesterol. High cholesterol would now be the diagnosis for any man or woman with a cholesterol level over 200. Doctors had to convince their patients that they had the disease and needed to take one or more expensive drugs for the rest of their lives.

However, when lowering total cholesterol levels below 200 did not translate into saving lives from heart attacks, the focus then turned to LDL cholesterol levels. The “disease” of high cholesterol was refined to the disease of high LDL cholesterol. The unfortunate patient who had an LDL cholesterol level above 130 was now condemned to a lifetime of expensive drugs. Though completely illogical, even when a person with normal LDL cholesterol levels suffered a heart attack, he would still be prescribed a cholesterol-lowering drug.

As we shall see, statin drugs reduce the risk of death by repeat heart attacks by as much as 30%, but interestingly enough, the mechanism of action in reducing the risk of death after a heart attack is not via statin drugs’ ability to lower cholesterol! It has been discovered that statin drugs have a modest anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect. Yet, there are many natural antioxidants that reduce inflammation and oxidation of LDL cholesterol and the lining of the arteries, which may soon be discovered to be more effective in reducing the risk of death than “antioxidant drugs,” without toxic side effects.

The myth that high LDL cholesterol is the primary cause of heart disease, and that we must be on drugs to protect ourselves is dispelled by the evidence. If the premise were true that people with high levels of LDL cholesterol get heart disease, then we could assume that people with normal levels of LDL should not get heart disease, or at least very few should get it. However, as Dr. DeBakey observed, approximately 60% of those who die from heart disease have normal LDL cholesterol levels!

Furthermore, after over 45 years of doctors prescribing cholesterol-lowering drugs, heart disease and stroke still remain the number one cause of death in both women and men. This says that regardless of whether you have a high or a normal level of cholesterol, you have a 50% chance of dying from heart disease. If this is so, and it is, then why take a dangerous drug to attempt to lower your cholesterol in the first place?

In 2001, the target level of LDL cholesterol was lowered from 130 to 100, and overnight the number of people considered to be candidates for cholesterol statin drugs doubled. Many people such as myself bristled at the news, because we knew the effectiveness of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in preventing and reversing heart disease. Many of us could see the conspiracy for what it was.

The level at which LDL cholesterol is considered normal has continually been influenced by pharmaceutical companies, who pull the financial strings of research grants that keep medical schools and medical organizations in business. The lower they can establish the level at which LDL cholesterol is considered to be normal, the more people automatically become victims of the dreaded disease of “high cholesterol.” Therefore, more people will be persuaded that they need to be taking a statin drug, and voil, more profit for the manufacturers. When you consider the size of the profits already received, let alone the potential profit from statin drugs over the next several years, the cholesterol conspiracy is one of the largest money making schemes ever perpetrated on the world.

In July 2004, the level of LDL cholesterol considered normal underwent another change. The new norm plunged from 100 to 70, virtually doubling again the number of people who are “infected” with the plague of high cholesterol. Why, it’s the epidemic of our time! Many enlightened people howled at this news, wondering if the masses would ever wake up and see who is behind this, and why. Why is the medical establishment ignoring the thousands of published medical studies that show the beneficial effects of nutritional supplements against heart disease? Why is the medical establishment down-playing the dangerous and deadly side effects of statin drugs?

The “updated” LDL cholesterol recommendations were published in the July 2004 issue of the American Heart Association’s publication, Circulation. A panel from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a division of the National Institutes of Health, which is endorsed by the American College of Cardiology, and the American Heart Association, were the ones who actually pronounced the new cholesterol level at which drugs should be prescribed. Sounds pretty official and reliable if these powerful medical institutions are backing up these recommendations, right?

The fact is eight of the nine panel members making the new LDL cholesterol recommendations were being paid by the statin-producing pharmaceutical companies. The panelists did not disclose their financial conflict of interest. This information was uncovered by Newsday, a Long Island, New York
newspaper (D. Ricks and R. Robins, Newsday, July 15, 2004). Seven of the nine panelists have financial connections to Pfizer, the makers of Lipitor. Five of the nine served as “consultants” to Pfizer. So, what did the other two panelists do to deserve their money? Seven of the nine panelists also received money from Merck, the producers of Zocor, with four of them serving as “consultants” to the company. Eight of the panelists who made the recommendations that would increase the prescribing of statin drugs have received either research grants or honoraria from Pfizer, Merck, AstraZeneca, Novartis, Glaxo Smith Kline, Johnson & Johnson, Bayer, and many other drug companies that produce statin drugs.

You would think that with all the advertising and recommendations from medical experts on the benefits of statin drugs, the medical community would possess overwhelming evidence that the drugs reduce the risk of death from cardiovascular disease. A hint of some of the smoke and mirrors in the pharmaceutical companies’ advertising can be seen in their TV commercials. Read carefully the small print on some of Crestor’s commercial advertising. Their commercial states how much it lowers LDL cholesterol. However, in the same ad you can read, “…Crestor has not been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease or heart attack.” If so, then why take it? Isn’t the bottom line to prevent death?

The system for reporting adverse effects from medications is tremendously flawed, so much so that many people are seriously harmed or killed by some medications before they are finally removed from the market. Most doctors do not know what symptoms or effects are due to the drug, what should be reported, or even to whom to report adverse effects. They assume that the research that went into developing the drug has already identified all the effects and that a drug brought to market is “safe.” However, only one in twenty side effects is ever reported to either hospital administrators or the FDA.

Statin drugs block cholesterol production in the body by inhibiting the enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase in the early steps of its synthesis in the mevalonate pathway. Cholesterol is one of three end products in the mevalonate chain. This same biosynthetic pathway is also used to create co-enzyme Q10, or co-Q10, as well as dilochol. Therefore, one unfortunate consequence of statin drugs is the unintentional inhibition of both Co-Q10 and dilochol synthesis.

The drug information insert of a statin drug states that it lowers co-enzyme Q10 levels. Most doctors have forgotten their biochemistry class in medical school, and forgotten about the importance of Co-Q10. Therefore they apparently are not concerned about such a statement on the drug labeling information sheet. They may even reassure their patients that lowering Co-Q10 is nothing to worry about, but at the same time warn them that the drug may cause liver damage and to have their liver enzymes checked every three to six months to make sure the drug isn’t killing them. They do not realize that it is the depletion of Co-Q10 that leads to liver damage and death.

Ubiquinone, or co-enzyme Q10, is a critical cellular nutrient created in the cell’s mitochondria, the “engines” that produce energy for the cell. Mitochondria use sugar, oxygen, and water to produce energy molecules known as ATP. Without ATP cells could do nothing. Damaged tissues could not be repaired. Cells could not divide or produce or utilize proteins, enzymes, or hormones. Death of cells, and indeed of the human body would occur if ATP could no longer be produced and utilized. Co-Q10 functions within the mitochondria as an electron carrier to cytochrome oxidase, our main respitory enzyme, which helps turn oxygen and sugar into energy. The heart requires high levels of oxygen, sugar, and Co-Q10 since it utilizes a lot of energy. A form of Co-Q10 called ubiquinone is found in all cell membranes, where it plays a role in maintaining membrane integrity, so critical to nerve conduction and muscle contraction. Co-Q10 is also vital for the formation of elastin and collagen, which make up the connective tissues of the skin, musculature, and the cardiovascular system.

The most common side effect of statin drugs is muscle pain and weakness. In fact, many patients who start on the statin drugs almost immediately notice generalized fatigue and muscle weakness. This is due to the depletion of Co-Q10 needed to support muscle function. Dr. Beatrice Golomb of San Diego, California, is currently conducting a series of studies on statin side effects. The pharmaceutical industry insists that only 2-3% of patients get muscle aches and cramps, when in fact in one study, Golomb found that 98% of patients taking Lipitor, and one-third of the patients taking Mevacor (a lower dose statin), suffered noticeable to significant muscle problems.

Some people on statin drugs lose coordination of their muscles. Some develop pain in their muscles, some are not able to write due to loss of fine motor skills. Many lose the strength to exercise. Others are falling more frequently as their muscles give out, still others have trouble sleeping due to muscle cramping and twitching. Even worse, many people are experiencing most of these side effects. The problems are so numerous, it is difficult to list all the symptoms people might experience. These problems do not come from the “disease” of high cholesterol, but the disease of ignorance in prescribing these drugs.

As we age, Co-Q10 levels decline naturally. From the age of 20 to 80, Co-Q10 levels fall by nearly 50%. Along with the natural decline of Co-Q10, comes a natural decrease in energy and an increase in the risk of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. If the natural decline of Co-Q10 levels increases the risk of fatigue, cancer, heart disease, and stroke, would it not make sense that accelerating the decline of Co-Q10 levels with statin drugs would have the same effect? They do indeed!

Demonstrating the importance of Co-Q10 to cardiovascular health, in a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study of people either taking or not taking statin drugs, supplementation with Co-Q10 reduced the risk of heart attacks and death in those with heart disease and prior heart attacks by 50%, regardless of whether they were on a statin drug or not. (Singh R, Neki N, Kartikey K, et al. Effect of coenzyme Q10 on risk of atherosclerosis in patients with recent myocardial infarction. Mol Cell Biochem. 2003 Apr; 246(1-2):75-82.)

Additionally, Co-Q10 was shown to increase blood levels of vitamin E and significantly increase the levels of protective HDL. As low HDL is a major risk factor for heart disease, increasing it is a definite benefit. Statin drugs were shown not to provide any benefit beyond that of supplementing with Co-Q10. Let me make this clear – in this study only the co-enzyme Q10 provided any benefit, not the drugs!

Cardiologist Dr. Peter Langsjoen of East Texas University reported the effects of Lipitor among 20 patients who started with completely normal hearts. After six months on a low dose of 20 mg of Lipitor per day, two thirds of the patients started to show signs of heart failure, as seen by abnormalities in the heart’s filling phase. According to Dr. Langsjoen, this malfunction is due to Co-Q10 depletion. Nine controlled trials using statin drugs in humans have been conducted thus far. Eight of these showed significant statin-induced Co-Q10 depletion leading to a decline in left ventricular function and other biochemical imbalances.

In the United States, the incidence of heart attacks over the past ten to fifteen years has declined slightly. But congestive heart failure and cardiomyopathy have risen alarmingly. Is it a coincidence that statin drugs were first marketed in 1987, and then from 1989 to 1997, deaths from congestive heart failure more than doubled? 38 It scares me that virtually all patients with heart failure are put on statin drugs, even if their cholesterol is already low. In my opinion, the worst thing to do for a failing heart is take a statin drug. The best thing is to take is a full range of quality nutritional supplements, …vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other antioxidants, including Co-Q10.

Various antioxidants work synergistically, each contributing to the fight against free radicals in different areas and in different ways. In the blood stream, water-soluble antioxidants, such as vitamin C, and grape seed extract come in contact with and neutralize free radicals before they damage LDL-cholesterol. Other antioxidants saturate arterial walls and other tissues, and protect collagen and elastic fibers from free radical damage, reducing inflammation and plaque formation. The fat-soluble antioxidants, vitamin E, beta carotene, and co-enzyme Q10 ride along in the blood fat (triglycerides) and LDL cholesterol, protecting them and the endothelium from oxidation. Vitamin E sits on the surface of LDL cholesterol, protecting it from free radical damage. Beta carotene, grape seed extract and olive extract penetrate deeper inside the LDL cholesterol and arterial walls, adding more protection from oxidation. Quercetin and alpha lipoic acid work through nitrous oxide pathways to reduce high blood pressure, a major risk factor for heart disease.

A report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2005 looked at 97 double-blind controlled studies comparing the efficacy of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs to fish oil. They found that cholesterol-lowering statin drugs reduced the risk of death from heart disease by only 13%, and
interesting enough it was NOT due to the effect of lowering cholesterol. The benefits, although small, were derived from the fact that statin drugs have a slight antioxidant effect.

Even more interesting, the salmon oil was shown to reduce the risk of death from heart disease by 23%, nearly double the benefit of statin drugs. Salmon oil is an omega-3 fatty acid that gets incorporated into cholesterol and triglycerides and prevents the oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Since LDL cholesterol is protected from excessive oxidation there is less plaque buildup and less risk of heart disease.

Inflammation is a well-known component in the formation of atherosclerosis. To keep it simple, think of inflammation and oxidation as the same process. The immune system’s response to inflammation is to
release peroxides that act like acid to break down damaged tissues, so that cells from the immune system, macrophages, can consume the molecules and clean up the site. But peroxides escalate the oxidation/inflammation process, thus damaging more tissue. The arterial walls become more inflamed, escalating the formation of plaque and scarring. The downward cycle continues until atherosclerosis is so advanced that the occurrence of a heart attack or stroke becomes imminent.

The liver’s response to inflammation is to release C reactive protein (CRP) into the blood. Other inflammatory causes can cause elevated CRP levels, including cigarette smoking, obesity, insulin insensitivity, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, infections, dementia, colorectal cancer, high blood pressure, and aging. Accordingly, elevated CRP levels are a direct indication of inflammation in the body and that atherosclerosis, including heart disease, is actively developing.

Homocysteine and high sensitivity CRP levels can and should be tested. Dr. Jialal, of the Universtity of Texas Southwestern Medical School at Dallas, is well known for his research correlating oxidized LDL cholesterol as the true cause of atherosclerosis, has also identified high sensitivity C reactive protein as a predictive risk factor for inflammation of arterial walls and plaque formation. Your doctor may not test for these routinely, but you should insist on getting these tests done. Both of these predictive values can be kept at “safe” levels. Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids can lower the levels of homocysteine and CRP. The B vitamins, along with betaine, or tri-methyl-glycine (TMG), change homocysteine into safer amino acids and reduce inflammation of the LDL cholesterol and the arterial lining.

When you receive the results of your homocysteine test, do not accept the answer, “Your test was normal.” Ask for the actual number. The doctor and nurse usually know what is normal by what the lab slip states as the “normal range.” Most lab results report a normal homocysteine level as being below 10.4, when in fact, since the early 1990′s, researchers have known that a homocysteine count above 6.5 signals a rapid linear rise in the risk for heart disease.

Furthermore, with every 3 point elevation of homocysteine above 6.5, e.g., when homocysteine levels are 9.5, the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) rises by an additional 35%! Yet you may be told that 9.5 is “normal and not to worry.” With a homocysteine level of 12.5, the increase in the
risk for heart disease exceeds 70%. The greater the homocysteine level, the greater the oxidation
of both LDL cholesterol and the arterial lining. The greater the inflammation, the higher the CRP. Is it any wonder that homocysteine and CRP levels are more predictive for risk of heart disease than cholesterol levels and ratios?

I need to emphasize that anyone whether they have a medical problem or not, should discuss this information with their physician before acting upon anything written here. The information provided is not meant to diagnose or treat any disease. It is for informational purposes only; and no one should make decisions about their medications without consulting with their physician. No one should come off a cholesterol-lowering statin drug in lieu of nutritional supplements without a thorough discussion with their physician who is keenly aware of all the pros and cons of both treatment modalities.

In summary, I recommend a full spectrum of quality nutritional supplements, along with a healthy diet and exercise, to help obtain and maintain optimal heart and arterial health. I believe all would agree that lifestyle changes are the most important factor for optimal health, …and many believe that quality nutritional supplements are key in protecting against the process that leads to, and accelerates the development of almost all chronic degenerative diseases, that of oxidation. To combat oxidation we need a full range of quality antioxidants.

http://comparativeguide.com

Author: Ladd McNamara, M.D.
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Pressure cooker

Managing Your Cholesterol – The Best Way To Prevent Hearth Attacks

Cholesterol is one of the most familiar medical words today. Everyone knows something about it , but mostly cholesterol is associated in our mind with something bad and unwanted that happens to old and overweight people.The facts show that about 20 percent of the U.S. population has high blood cholesterol levels.

Actually holesterol is a waxy, fatlike substance (lipid) that your body needs for many important functions, such as producing new cells , some hormones, vitamin D, and the bile acids that help to digest fat.. It is present in cell walls or membranes everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscle, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.
In fact our bodies need cholesterol to function normally, but too much cholesterol can be bad for our health. Why ? Cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in the blood. They have to be transported to and from the cells by special carriers. Cholesterol travels through your blood attached to a protein. This cholesterolprotein package is called a lipoprotein. Lipoproteins are high density or low density depending on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) is the major cholesterol carrier in the blood. If too much LDL cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the walls of the arteries feeding the heart and brain. Together with other substances it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can clog those arteries. When the coronary arteries become narrowed or clogged by cholesterol and fat deposits (a process called atherosclerosis) and cannot supply enough blood to the heart, the result is coronary heart disease. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by total blockage of a coronary artery, the result is a heart attack. This is usually due to a sudden closure from a blood clot forming on top of a previous narrowing. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is called “bad” cholesterol because it can cause cholesterol buildup and blockage of your arteries. LDL is mostly fat with only a small amount of protein.

About one-third to one-fourth of blood cholesterol is carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Medical experts think HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it’s passed from the body. Some experts believe HDL removes excess cholesterol from plaques and thus slows their growth. HDL is called “good” cholesterol because it helps prevent cholesterol from building up in your arteries. It is mostly protein with only a small amount of fat.

Since there is good cholesterol and bad cholesterol it is not only necessary to know your cholesterol level ,it is also important to know your levels of LDL and HDL.

The fact is that there are no symptoms of high cholesterol. Your first symptom of high cholesterol could be a heart attack or a stroke. The level of cholesterol can be measured only with a blood test.The results come as three main numbers:

Total Cholesterol LDL HDL The level of LDL should be less than 160. Total cholesterol should be less than 200. The level of HDL should be more than 35.

Most Important: Your LDL level is a good indicator of your risk for heart disease. Lowering LDL is the main aim of treatment if you have high cholesterol. In general, the higher your LDL level, the greater your chance of developing heart disease.

Remember : Regular cholesterol tests are recommended to find out if your cholesterol level is within normal range.

WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT YOUR LDL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS?

The main cause of high blood cholesterol is eating too much fat, especially saturated fat. Saturated fats are found in animal products, such as meats, milk and other dairy products that are not fat free, butter, and eggs. Some of these foods are also high in cholesterol. Fried fast foods and snack foods often have a lot of fat.

Being overweight and not exercising can make your bad cholesterol go up and your good cholesterol go down. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.

Cigarette smoking damages the walls of your blood vessels, making them likely to have cholesterol rich plaques rupture and have heart attacks. Smoking may also lower your level of HDL cholesterol by as much as 15 percent.

Also, after women go through menopause, their bad cholesterol levels tend to go up. There is also a rare type of inherited high cholesterol that often leads to early heart disease.Some people inherit a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia, which means that very high cholesterol levels run in the family.Other people, especially people for whom diabetes runs in the family, inherit high triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are another type of blood fat that can also push up cholesterol levels. People with high blood triglycerides usually have lower HDL cholesterol and a higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Progesterone, anabolic steroids and male sex hormones (testosterone) also lower HDL cholesterol levels.

So we can make a conclusion that the main therapy is to change your lifestyle. This includes controlling your weight, eating foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol, exercising regularly, not smoking and, in some cases, drinking less alcohol.

But , depending on your risk factors, if healthy eating and exercise don’t work after about 6 months to 1 year, your doctor may suggest medicine to lower your cholesterol level.

Now there are very effective medications called statins,such as Lipitor.
The drug works by helping to clear harmful low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol out of the blood and by limiting the body’s ability to form new LDL cholesterol. Each tablet Lipitor includes 20mg Atorvastatin. It is in a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. It works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body. Lipitor has shown the ability to halt, not just slow, the potentially fatal buildup of plaque in clogged arteries. While a handful of drugs now available slow the buildup of new plaque, or atherosclerosis, in coronary arteries, no drug on the market has been proven to both stop new build-up and clear existing plaque.

Author: Richard Clement
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: WordPress plugin Guest Blogger

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