Is it possible that you could have high cholesterol and not even aware of it? Studies from the World Health Organization indicate that almost 16% of all Americans have not been diagnosed or treated for their high levels of cholesterol. These staggering numbers should make it all the more important to be screened regularly for the condition.However, understanding your cholesterol numbers is not the only important bit of information to determine if you are healthy or not. There are two different types of cholesterol including LDL and HDL that offer a completely different function in the body.
To define cholesterol, it is a waxy, sticky fatty substance that is essential to body function. Every individual's body makes all the cholesterol it will ever need. Additionally, the rest of it comes from foods, such as shellfish, meats, dairy products, etc. To stay healthy, your body needs some of it to help in the digestion process and to form vitamin D and hormones.However, consuming too much LDL is not a good thing. When the body is overloaded with LDL it can easily stick to the inside of artery walls. As the artery walls start to build up with the sticky substance, it begins to harden and turn into plaque which can easily narrow and block the flow of blood. Eventually, the buildup will lead to atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). High levels of LDL have been directly linked to the increased risk of heart disease. Because there are no symptoms with individuals experiencing high LDL, it can easily get out of the control before being detected. Individuals that are overweight, consume a lot of fatty foods, or have a family medical history of high cholesterol are at greater risk for coronary artery disease.Cholesterol in your body is transported through the bloodstream as lipoproteins. The two varieties of lipoproteins include:High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) - Usually referred to as the good cholesterol, it naturally transports fats through the body to the liver for removal.Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) - This cholesterol is often referred to as the bad cholesterol, because in large quantities, it will lead to a hardening of the arteries. Every individual with high cholesterol is at great risk of having heart disease.There's also Total Cholesterol which is sum of two lipoproteins combined.High-Level Cholesterol NumbersYour doctor will most likely order a blood test to check your cholesterol numbers for diagnosis of your health, using the following guidelines:HDL Cholesterol Level:
- Less than 50 mg/dL for women and less than 40 mg/dL for men usually indicate high risk of heart disease.
- Borderline is 40 mg/dL to 49 mg/dL for men and 50 mg/dL to 59 mg/dL for women.
- Optimal is over 49 ml/dL and 59 ml/dL for men and women respectively.
LDL Cholesterol Level:
- Optimal is less than 100 mg/dL.
- Near optimal is 100 to 129 mg/dL.
- Borderline is 130 to 159 mg/dL.
- High cholesterol is 160 to 189 mg/dL.
- Very high cholesterol is 190 mg/dL and up.
Total Cholesterol Level;
- Optimal is below 200mg/dL.
- Near optimal is 200 to 239 mg/dL.
- High cholesterol is over 240mg/dL.
If you are interest in my article, please visiting my Define Cholesterol [http://www.definecholesterol.org] blog.