About Cholesterol
What Causes High Cholesterol?
Lipoproteins and Cholesterol
Getting Tested
Cholesterol Test Interpretation
Cholesterol Nutrition 101
Exercise
Cholesterol Medications
Alternative Medicine
Hyperlipoproteinemia
Hypolipoproteinemia
Diabetes and High Cholesterol
Heart Disease and High Cholesterol
Current Research on Cholesterol
Clinical Trials
Quiz Yourself
Cholesterol is a fatty molecule that is manufactured by your liver. You need cholesterol in order to help you manufacture certain types of hormones. However, too much cholesterol circulating through the blood can lead to heart disease.
There are many risk factors that are associated with high cholesterol, or hypercholesterolemia. These include obesity, smoking, fatty diet, and living a sedentary life style.
Lipoproteins and cholesterol--what is the connection?
Getting a cholesterol test is an important step in fighting heart disease, and may even save your life.
Once you have had your blood drawn for your cholesterol test, it will be sent to a laboratory for analysis. Your blood test results will have five numbers listed that will tell you how much cholesterol is in your bloodstream: HDL level, LDL level, VLDL level, triglyceride level, and total cholesterol level.
For many people, following a healthy diet regimen can control high cholesterol.
Whether you have just been diagnosed with having high cholesterol or are just trying to prevent it, exercise can be a very important weapon to reduce obesity, increase muscle tone, and optimize cardiovascular health. Plus, many research studies indicate that moderate exercise raise levels of HDL (good cholesterol) and lower levels of LDL (bad cholesterol).
Cholesterol medications may be prescribed by your physician to treat high cholesterol when diet and exercise are not enough. There are four major classes of cholesterol medications: statin drugs, bile acid resins, fibrates, and nicotinic acid (niacin). These drugs have different mechanisms in the manner they lower fats in the blood.
There are many natural alternatives to treating high cholesterol, such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and other biological compounds. Be sure to check with your health care practitioner before taking any of these medications, since they could interact with other medications your are taking.
Hyperlipoproteinemia, or hyperlipidemia, is a classification of conditions where an abnormally high level of plasma lipids (such as cholesterol and triglycerides) exists in the blood. Find out here what types of hyperlipidemia and what causes them.
Hypolipidemia, or hypolipoproteinemia, is a disorder in lipid metabolism where there is too little cholesterol and/or triglyceride present in the blood.
If you are a Type I (IDDM) or Type II (NIDDM) diabetic, your chances of heart disease drastically increase if you also have been diagnosed with high cholesterol.
Cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis, lead up to the number one killer in the United States---heart attacks. Most of these diseases can be prevented by reducing cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
Current research about cholesterol and hypercholesterolemia.
Selected clinical trials concerning the research and treatment of lipid disorders in the United States and around the world. Updated weekly!
Listed below of a series of cholesterol quizzes in order to see if you are knowledgeable about cholesterol, heart disease, and stroke risk, or are at risk for developing them.