Cholesterol Testing: Beginners Guide to Cholesterol Control

Cholesterol is fat found in numerous food that come from animals such as eggs, beef, milk, and pork. Your liver also creates cholesterol. Your body needs cholesterol to function and stay healthy. But too much of it can block your arteries - the blood vessels that lead to your heart. That's the reason why people with high cholesterol levels have a higher chance of having a heart attack.

Cholesterol Testing: The Benefits of Controlling Your Cholesterol

Lowering your cholesterol has a significant impact on the process of plaque formation in the arteries of your heart - it lowers your risk of having a heart disease or heart attack.

A significant drop in your blood cholesterol level can stop the growth of new coronary "lesion" as these blockages are called, and in some cases can cause some decrease of existing lesions.

Reducing cholesterol level in people with heart disease decreases the risks for heart attack, death from heart disease and can actually prolong life.

In people with high risk of heart disease, the primary benefit may be to delay the onset of so-called premature heart disease - one that occurs before age 65 - in people at normal or low risk, such measures over a span of many years may help prevent cardiovascular disease in old age.

What is Cholesterol Testing?

Cholesterol testing is carried out to measure the amount of total cholesterol in your blood. The test compares the total amount of your HDL. This comparison is called a ratio. Your ratio can help you determine your risk of having a heart disease.

Cholesterol testing is usually done as part of the routine overall check up of the body.So, don't hesitate to do your cholesterol testing . You can get the test done at the medical centers or you can do your own cholesterol testing using a home test kit. This way you can monitor the cholesterol in your body and keep track of it. One other option is to visit medical spas to take some blood tests.

Cholesterol Testing: How to Prepare for the Test

To begin your cholesterol test, you must fast for 9-12 hours before the test. Avoid soda, tea, coffee and other beverages during the fasting period as this can affect the test result. But you can drink water. You'll find more information about cholesterol testing right here.


How to do the Test

To begin your cholesterol testing, get a home cholesterol test kit. Prick one of your fingers with a lancet in order to get a little drop of blood. Drop the blood on a piece of test strip or paper  that come with the home test kit. Follow the instructions on the test kit you're using to determine your cholesterol level. Some home cholesterol test kits are designed with a digital device that shows the level of your blood cholesterol immediately after the cholesterol testing.


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Cholesterol Testing: Everything You Need to Know About Your Cholesterol Level

The higher your blood cholesterol level, the higher your risk of having a heart attack. Because you have heart disease, your heart attack risk is already high, which means it's especially important to do a cholesterol testing to determine your cholesterol level.

If you have diabetes as well as heart disease, your heart attack risk rises still higher. If you have both diseases, it is extremely important to take steps to keep both your cholesterol and your diabetes under control.

Cholesterol Testing: How Cholesterol Affects Your Heart

Your body needs cholesterol to function properly. However, your body produces all the cholesterol it needs. Over time, extra cholesterol and fat circulating in the blood build up in the walls of the arteries that supply blood to your heart.

This buildup, called plaque, makes the arteries narrower and narrower. If enough oxygen-rich blood cannot reach your heart, you may suffer chest pain, or angina. If the blood supply to a portion of your heart is completely cut off, the result is a heart attack.This normally happens when a cholesterol-rich plaque bursts, releasing the cholesterol into the bloodstream and causing a blood clot to form over the plaque.

The Two Main Types of Cholesterol

Cholesterol travels in the blood in packages of fat(lipid) and protein called lipoproteins. Cholesterol packaged in low-density lipoprotein(LDL) is often called "bad" cholesterol, because too high a level of LDL in your blood can lead to blockages in your arteries. Another type of cholesterol is high-density lipoprotein (HDL) known as "good" cholesterol. That's because HDL helps remove cholesterol from the body, preventing it from building up in your arteries.


Cholesterol Testing: How to Get Tested

High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms, so if your cholesterol level is too high, you may not be aware of it. So it's important to do cholesterol testing regularly, especially if you have heart disease. A blood test called a "lipoprotein profile" measures the levels of all types of lipids, or fats in your blood.

Total cholesterol is a measure of all the cholesterol in your lipoproteins, including the bad cholesterol in LDL and the good cholesterol in HDL.

The higher your LDL number, the higher your risk of heart disease or heart attack. Knowing your LDL number is very important because it will determine the kind of treatment you may need.

The point is: If you have heart disease, reducing LDL cholesterol will reduce your risk of heart attack and can actually prolong your life.

However, your HDL number tells a different story. The lower your HDL number, the higher your risk of heart disease and heart attack. Your lipoprotein profile test will also measure the levels of trigleycerides, which are another fatty substance in the blood.

Cholesterol Testing: Knowing Your HDL Cholesterol Level

An HDL cholesterol level of less than 40 mg/dL is a major risk factor for heart disease and heart attack. An HDL level of 60 mg/dL or higher is reasonably protective.

Cholesterol Testing: Setting Your LDL Goal

The main goal of cholesterol-lowering treatment is to lower your LDL level enough to reduce your risk of heart attack. Achieving this goal is critically important if you have heart disease. The higher your risk category, the lower your LDL goal will be. For most people with heart disease or diabetes who are at high risk for heart attack, the goal of cholesterol-lowering treatment is an LDL below 100 mg/dL.

Two Simple and Easy Ways to Lower Your LDL

There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol - through lifestyle changes alone, or through lifestyle changes combined with medication.

Lifestyle changes - One important treatment approach is called TLC, which stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes. This treatment helps to reduce LDL cholesterol through a diet that's low in saturated fat - the main dietary culprit that raises blood cholesterol - trans fat, and dietary cholesterol, as well as through regular physical activity and weight management.

Everyone who needs to lower cholesterol should use this TLC program. Adopt the TLC approach and you will lower your chances of having a heart attack and other heart disease complications. The TLC plan simply puts more emphasis on decreasing saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol to lower blood cholesterol levels.

Medication - If your LDL level is above your goal, your doctor will prescribe medications at the same time you are making lifestyle changes. If you do need medication, be sure to use it along with the TLC approach. This will keep the dose of medicine as low as possible, and will lower your risk in other ways as well. You will also need to control all your other heart disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking.

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Cholesterol Testing: Home Cholesterol Test Kits

If you have a high cholesterol level in your blood, you must keep track of it on a consistent basis in order to overcome any risk factor of a heart disease. To achieve this, you should empower yourself with a home cholesterol test kits.

From a health perspective, having a home cholesterol test kits at home is one of the wisest decisions you could ever make toward achieving a healthy life. A home cholesterol test kits serves as a tool for taking absolute control of your total cholesterol level.

CardioCheck Portable Blood Test System is an ideal home test kits that is designed entirely for individuals. With this test kits, you'll have an informed knowledge of your cholesterol level so that you can make necessary lifestyle modifications to achieve a healthier and happier life.

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4 Simple and Easy Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol Level

Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting a heart disease. To lower your blood cholesterol level, you must control your weight, eat healthy diets, reduce your fat intake, and exercise regularly. Below are the simple and easy ways to lower your cholesterol level.

(1) Lose Weight - You can achieve this by reducing your caloric intake combined with regular physical exercise. Avoid crash diets and try to lose 1-2 pounds per week until you accomplish your desired weight loss goal. To maintain your ideal weight, develop a healthy eating habit and regular exercises.

(2) Eat Plenty Dietary Fibers - Soluble fibers help decrease blood cholesterol. These fibers include pectin which is found in apples and other fruits, guar that is found in gum, and the fiber that's found in oat, corn, rice, dried beans and other legumes. All kinds of dietary fiber have the added advantage of producing a feeling of fullness, consequently reducing your total food consumption.

(3) Reduce Your Fat and Cholesterol Consumption - When cooking, use a cookbook that includes low-fat and low-cholesterol recipes. There are numerous good cookbooks out there that are designed entirely  for lowering cholesterol purposes and at the same time offer delicious healthy meals. One of such books is Everything Low-Cholesterol Cookbook with 300 Delicious low-fat and low-cholesterol recipes. Written by: Linda Larsen.

Serve smaller portions of meat dishes and emphasize pasta, vegetables, cholesterol-free foods and low-fat diets. In addition, lower your intake of high cholesterol foods such as fatty meat, liver, and eggs.

(4) Exercise Regularly - One of the most effective ways to lose and control weight is by exercising regularly. Regular exercise will not only help you lose and control your weight but will also help increase your HDL cholesterol level - a type of cholesterol that helps prevent cholesterol buildup in your arteries.

You don't need a professionally designed exercise program to lose and control your weight. A simple brisk fitness walking or jogging of 10-30 minutes per day will do the trick. You simply have to be consistent in your workouts.

Finally, you can lower your cholesterol level by losing and controlling your weight, eating healthy foods such as dietary fibers, lowering your fat and cholesterol intake, and exercising your body on a consistent basis.