High Cholesterol

May 4 2008 Dr Gareth Smith

Casebook

CHOLESTEROL is a fat used by the body to make cells and hormones. There is good cholesterol, highdensity lipoprotien (HDL) and bad cholesterol, low density lipoprotien (LDL).

Too much LDL can cause hardening and thickening of the arteries which in turn leads to heart attacks and strokes. HDL soaks up bad LDL. LDL is reduced by diet changes and HDL is increased by exercise.

A simple blood test will confirm levels - healthy is below 5, mildly raised is 5-6.4, high is 6.5-7.8 and very high is above 7.8.

Most people drop 0.5 by diet alone. Anything above may require statins, which soak up the LDL.