We have all heard about cholesterol in thousands of heath articles. Cholesterol effects heath of everybody around the world. Our blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with the possibilities of getting heart disease. High cholesterol is one of the biggest threats and the best known for heart disease. Heart disease is the number one killer of people in the United States. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about half of that number die from heart disease. In order to put our cholesterol level in the safe zone we first must understand what cholesterol is and how significant it is.
Cholesterol is waxy, fat-like substance that is found in the bloodstream and in all cells of the body. It is an important part of the body because our bodies need some cholesterol to build new cells and repair old cell membranes. Cholesterol is also used to insulate nerves in production of hormones. Human body makes some of it, and the rest comes from food we eat such as meats, fish, eggs, poultry, cheese and whole milk. Cholesterol travels through the bloodstream in small packages called lipoproteins. These packages are made of proteins and lipids. There are two kinds of lipoproteins which carry cholesterol throughout our bodies; they are low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and high-density lipoproteins (HDL). High density lipoprotein is known as good cholesterol. HDL takes the bad cholesterol out of blood by transporting it to the liver and keep it from building up in arteries. Low-density cholesterol is known as bad cholesterol because it can cause arteries to narrow or become blocked. That makes the flow of blood slowing or stopping to vital organs, especially the heart and brain. It also increase chances of getting cardiovasc...
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... of options for treating high cholesterol. In my conclusion, the first action we should take on high cholesterol is a change in diet and lifestyle. Weight controlling, regular exercise and diet low in cholesterol and animal fats are always usually all that is needed to bring down cholesterol level into safe zone. On the hand, if these changes don’t help, I will visit the doctor. The doctor can prescribe a cholesterol lowering drug such as lovastatin, niacin, and ezetimibe. Unfortunately, these mediation can cause liver damage; however, they are not an excuse to have unhealthy diet. Also, the lowing of cholesterol in blood can result in disrupting certain functions of our body, such as our behavior and mood. High cholesterol can be an extremely serious matter if it is not taken care of in the right way. It can lead to heart disease, so pay attention on what you eat.
This patient has been seen every 6 months for a focused physical examination with a total cholesterol, liver function panel and a FPG to evaluate his diabetes status and cholesterol management program. He has attended nutrition counseling in the past and has complied with lifestyle modifications including diet and exercise resulting in a weight loss of eight pounds over the past year. Over the pasts twelve months, this patient’s total cholesterol levels have significantly improved from 280 mg/dL to 190 mg/dL. This is the second time h...
LDL or bad cholesterol comes from food that is a high source of cholesterol and/or saturated fats. Plaque forms when bad or LDL cholesterol builds up in your bloodstream and attaches to the arterial wall, as more LDL builds up the plaque becomes larger, this can become a major problem for your cardiovascular system. Because plaque is a substance that has rough edges, it reduces the elastic nature of the artery which means your heart will have to work double-time to pump the necessary blood to all your limbs, that will mean your limbs won’t get the amount of oxygen that they require to function properly. Plaque can also narrow the area blood has to pass through, this means your heart has to work overtime and overall capacity of your cardiovascular system is lowered. When the LDL cholesterol embeds itself in the wall of the artery it than damages the artery then blood pressure expands it which causes an aneurysm. When an aneurysm is too weak there is a high possibility of it bursting, when that happens it leaves the cells in and around that area without oxygen. If that artery is connected to a major vital organ the person will most likely die. When the blood flow is slowed it shows a greater risk for blood clots and although blood clots are natural and important to healing broken blood vessels, if blood clots gather inside the blood vessel this proves to be a serious health risk. The clots have the possibility to get stuck and completely cut off the blood flow to cells, leaving them without oxygen and causing them to die. If a clot gets inside a blood vessel connected to a major organ this could cause the person to die. The heart is fed by the coronary artery, if plaque or a blood clot blocks off blood flow to the heart, the heart ...
Hypercholesterolemia is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. Cholesterol is a waxy fat-like substance and is a major class of lipid, so it gets into the blood by lipoproteins [1]. A high level of lipoproteins is unhealthy. A high level can result in an elevated risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease [2]. The high levels of lipoproteins are often influenced by a combination of genetic and environmental factors such as obesity or dieting habits [2]. High cholesterol can be caused by mutations in the following genes: APOB, LDLR, LDLRAP1, and PCSK9 [3]. Mutations in the LDLR gene are responsible for causing familial hypercholesterolemia, which is the most commonly seen form of inherited high cholesterol [3]. The LDLR gene contains instructions for making LDL receptors or low-density lipoprotein receptors. LDL receptors play critical roles in regulating levels of cholesterol in the blood by removing low-density lipoproteins from the bloodstream. Mutations in the LDLR gene can make the amount of LDL receptors produced less than normal or affect their job of removing the low-density lipoproteins in the blood [4]. People who have these mutations will have higher levels of cholesterol. There are many ways that the environment can affect the levels of cholesterol in the blood. Reducing the amount of dietary fat you consume lowers the total amount of cholesterol in the blood [5]. Sucrose and fructose can raise the amount of LDL in the blood. Reducing fatty foods will however lower the amount of LDL [5]. Having a healthy body and maintaining physical exercise plays a key role in keeping your cholesterol at a healthy level. If you are overweight or obese you can lower your cholesterol levels by simply losing ...
CAD is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the worldwide. The prevalence of biological and metabolic risk factors were also found to be high in development of coronary artery disease. Patients with hypercholesterolemia are at increased risk to experience cardiovascular events and to die from vascular disease [2]. .Statins, among the most commonly prescribed drugs worldwide, are cholesterol let downing agents used to manage cardiovascular and coronary heart diseases and to treat hypercholesterolemia. Statin’s therapy ...
Imagine being in a family that is expecting their first child. Articles in the newspaper are showing how the chances of miscarriages are increasing. As soon as anxiety starts to take over, a flip of a page in the newspaper changes everything. An article about a new drug called Diethylstilbestrol seems to be on the next page. Diethylstilbestrol, also known as DES, is a medicine that helps prevent women from having pregnancy complications including miscarriages. “This is amazing!” one may say, but do they really know the consequences of taking this new medication? Diethylstilbestrol was a huge turning point for most pregnant women in the early twentieth century; however, it had many underlying negative consequences that would later affect the mother and child with the word no one ever wants to hear; cancer.
Endocrinology can be defined as the study of the structure and function of the endocrine system (Tortora & Grabowski 1996). The endocrine system is composed cells, known as endocrine cells, which are distributed around the body and produce the chemical messengers known as hormones. Following secretion by endocrine cells, hormones travel in the blood where they affect tissues outside of their tissue of origin - and are therefore a form of cellular communication. In multicellular organisms, such as humans, cellular communication is essential for a number of body processes and the maintenance of homeostasis (Campbell, N.A. et al. 2015). In this essay, I am going to outline some of a number of body
The cell plasma membrane, a bilayer structure composed mainly of phospholipids, is characterized by its fluidity. Membrane fluidity, as well as being affected by lipid and protein composition and temperature (Purdy et al. 2005), is regulated by its cholesterol concentration (Harby 2001, McLaurin 2002). Cholesterol is a special type of lipid, known as a steroid, formed by a polar OH headgroup and a single hydrocarbon tail (Wikipedia 2005, Diwan 2005). Like its fellow membrane lipids, cholesterol arranges itself in the same direction; its polar head is lined up with the polar headgroups of the phospholipid molecules (Spurger 2002). The stiffening and decreasing permeability of the bilayer that results from including cholesterol occurs due to its placement; the short, rigid molecules fit neatly into the gaps between phospholipids left due to the bends in their hydrocarbon tails (Alberts et al. 2004). Increased fluidity of the bilayer is a result of these bends or kinks affecting how closely the phospholipids can pack together (Alberts et al. 2004). Consequently, adding cholesterol molecules into the gaps between them disrupts the close packing of the phospholipids, resulting in the decreased membrane fluidity (Yehuda et al. 2002).
Hyperlipidemia or increased cholesterol builds up causing narrowing in the arteries, which reduces oxygen rich blood flow to the heart and tissues, also increasing the risk for myocardial infarction. Obesity increases the risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia, increasing the risk of atherosclerosis, and therefore increasing
There are preventive measures that can be taken to prevent coronary heart disease. Go to the doctor and get a regularly routine checkup. Mainly have a healthy lifestyle by having a healthy diet; this diet should include a low salt intake, whole grain foods, low fat/ fat free diary, meats (lean), fruits , vegetables, nuts, and water. Also physical activities or being active decrease the chances of getting CHD.
Long range BMI target/goal is less than 25. If lifestyle changes are not enough, than drugs that help lower cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and blood sugar can be used such as statins, fibrates or nicotinic acid. 4Other things that can be done include trying to fight the insulin resistance by starting thiazolidinedione. Also, treating the different risk factors like elevated blood pressure, prothrombotic and proinflammatory state independently. Our patient has 4 of the 5 risk factors: low HDL, high triglycerides, high fasting blood glucose, and central obesity.
An unhealthy diet and physical inactivity can cause raised blood pressure, raised glucose levels, raised blood lipids, overweight and obesity in individuals, which puts them at a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Unlike behavior risk factors, which can be controlled or modified, there are fixed risk factors like like race, gender, and age that can also contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular disease, also known as heart disease, is a term used for diseases involving the heart, arteries, capillaries and veins. The problems associated with cardiovascular disease are often a result of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is caused by a buildup of plaque in artery walls, which disrupts blood flow through the arteries (American Heart Association, 2011). Cardiovascular disease causes a variety of conditions including heart attacks, ischemic stroke, heart failure, coronary artery disease, arrhythmias and heart valve problems (American Heart Association, 2011). These conditions lead to serious health related issues for individuals, including death. Every year there are around 600,000 individuals in the United States that die from cardiovascular disease, making heart disease the leading cause of death in both men and women (CDC, 2014). Although there are ways to decrease the risk of heart disease, the rate has been consistently increasing over the years, costing America billions of dollars in health care services annually. Contributing factors to the rise in heart disease includes the rate of obesity and a lack of physical activity (Dhaliwal, Welborn & Howat, 2013; Poirier, Giles, Bray, Hong, Pi-Sunyer & Eckel, 2006). These articles provide research that answers the question of how obesity and physical activity are linked to cardiovascular disease.
Six moths ago I scheduled a physical and blood work, a month later I was diagnosed with high cholesterol. My total cholesterol levels were at 250, with and LDL of 150, which puts me at a higher risk of cardiovascular illness. I was given the option of changing my eating habits with a combination of exercise to manage and lower my cholesterol levels, thus avoiding the need for medication. The dr. was very supportive, he had many helpful suggestions and showed me several ways in which I could lower my cholesterol by making simple food choices. After a long discussion I decided this was the way to go, I hate taking medication. When I reviewed the analysis report and saw that my cholesterol continues to be above the recommended range I let out a huge sigh, it took a few seconds to compose myself before I continued to look over it. This whole time I thought I had maintained my cholesterol under control, the analysis report proved that I was wrong. It is important that I make changes on how I eat. High cholesterol is indicative of cardiovascular illnesses that possibly result in serious chronic diseases. Diseases that are linked to high cholesterol are Coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. The main risk from cholesterol is heart attacks. If the cholesterol remains high, it can build up overtime in the walls of the arteries forming a build up known as plaque. This plaque will cause the arteries
My DRI of cholesterol was maxed at 300mg and my intake was 267mg. Still relatively high so could start consuming Oatmeal for breakfast in which reduces your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), the "bad" cholesterol. Also, I...
High cholesterol is the best known of all the many threats to a healthy heart. When excess amounts fatty like plaque substance build up along the walls of the arteries, you face a significantly higher risk of a complete blockage, leading to a heart attack or stroke. At normal levels, cholesterol is not a bad thing. On the other hand, its an essential material used by the body to make cell walls and produce hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen. The body produces its own supply of cholesterol in the liver, it’s also found in various animal products such as meats, eggs, and, milk. Cholesterol only becomes a threat when the body can’t use or get rid of excessive amounts of it.