According to a WHO report in 2011, an estimated 35 percent of the Indonesian population have cholesterol levels higher than the normal limit for good health. This means that a third of Indonesia's population at high risk of peripheral artery disease.
Excess cholesterol can be caused by eating foods with high cholesterol or because of lack of exercise. However, this condition can also occur due to hereditary factors.
About Cholesterol
Cholesterol is actually needed by the body to help build new cells so the body can still function normally. In addition, cholesterol also helps the body produce vitamin D, some hormones and bile acids to digest fat.
In the blood, cholesterol is carried by proteins. Combination of the two is called a lipoprotein. Du ajenis major lipoproteins are low-density lipoproteins (LDL), commonly referred to as bad cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL) commonly referred to as good cholesterol.
LDL carries cholesterol from the liver to the cells that need. But if the amount of cholesterol that exceeds the requirement, it can be deposited on artery walls and cause disease. On the other hand, HDL, as opposed to LDL, carries cholesterol back to the liver. In the liver, cholesterol will be destroyed or removed by the body through feces.
Cholesterol levels in the blood suggested could vary, depending on whether the person has a higher risk or lower for diseased arteries. The amount of cholesterol in the blood can be measured by a blood test.
You should undergo blood cholesterol levels if overweight, have high blood pressure, diabetes diseased, or have other illnesses that may increase cholesterol levels.
Diagnosis cholesterol levels is also recommended if a person has close relatives who suffer from the disease due to high cholesterol, or a close relative who had a history of cardiovascular disease at an early age.
For those who've been diagnosed to have coronary heart disease, mild stroke, or peripheral arterial disease, it is recommended to do these checks as well.
The impact of high cholesterol
When excessive cholesterol deposited on artery walls, blood flow in the heart, brain, and other body parts could be hampered. In other words, high cholesterol increases one's risk of narrowing of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, blood clots in certain parts of the body, mild stroke, stroke, and heart attack.
High cholesterol levels can also cause pain in the front of the chest or the arm (angina) when a person experiences stress or strenuous physical activity. In addition, high cholesterol also increases a person's risk of coronary heart disease.
If you do not change your diet and stop smoking, high cholesterol patients will be at risk of stroke or heart disease. At cigarettes found a chemical called acrolein. These substances can stop the activity of good cholesterol or HDL to transport fat to the liver. The result can occur narrowing of the arteries or atherosclerosis.
In addition, a person's risk also increases if he is suffering from hypertension, diabetes, or have relatives who suffer from heart disease or stroke.
High cholesterol can also be caused by a genetic condition (descent) called familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). This condition sufferer cholesterol levels remain high despite eating healthy foods.
How to prevent or reduce levels of cholesterol
Healthy lifestyle is indispensable in and hold a high cholesterol condition. Eating a balanced healthy and nutritious food is one of the major steps that can be done in preventing or lowering cholesterol levels. The fat content in the diet should be low. Try to replace the consumption of foods containing saturated fats with fruits and vegetables, and whole grains (such as whole wheat bread). By doing so, the cholesterol levels in the body will remain low. In addition to a healthy diet, immediately begin to exercise regularly and lose weight for those who are overweight. No less important, avoid smoking.
If the suggestions above have not been able to lower your cholesterol levels and heart disease risk still lurk, you should consult a doctor. Doctors will usually do give you a prescription treatment with cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins.
Treatment of High Cholesterol
If the result diagnonis states that you have high cholesterol, a doctor will first advise you to change your diet, not smoking, and increasing the frequency of exercise. This advice also can be applied in everyday life even in a healthy state to help prevent high cholesterol.
Eating a healthy diet with low saturated fat can help reduce levels of bad cholesterol in the body. Try to avoid the consumption of foods high in saturated fat, such as listed below.
- Lamb
- Duck meat and skin
- Chicken skin
- Innards
- cow's brain
- Coconut milk
- crackers
- Cakes and biscuits
- Quail eggs
- calamari
Most nutritionists believe that the fatty substance contained in avocado oil and tuna, mackerel, and salmon are good for health. These substances are known as omega-3 fatty acids.
For patients with high triglyceride levels, it is advisable to consume omega-3 fatty acids so that their triglyceride levels down. Eating foods that contain omega-3 nutrients, such as fish twice a week, believed to be beneficial both for those who have high triglyceride levels in the blood. But do not eat excessively because of the amount of omega-3 in the body that can trigger obesity high.
Coping with high cholesterol with drugs
If within a few months of cholesterol does not go down, even if you've been practicing a healthy lifestyle, then your doctor may advise you to take cholesterol-lowering drugs.
There are several types of cholesterol-lowering drugs and each drug is behaving in a way that is different. To determine the appropriate medication with you, you should consult your physician first. If you also have high blood pressure or hypertension, most likely your doctor will prescribe medication to lower it. Some drugs that lower blood cholesterol levels that can be prescribed by a doctor is a statin, aspirin, and ezetimibe.
Statins are useful for lowering cholesterol levels by blocking an enzyme in the liver that is in charge of producing cholesterol. If prescribed by a doctor, the patient usually will be taking a statin for a lifetime. For if statins are not given, then the cholesterol levels could go up and could increase the risk of other diseases are related, such as a heart attack.
Some types of statin drugs that can be prescribed by your doctor is simvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin. But some people are intolerant to statins and experience side effects when taking them. Side effects that usually appears in the form of stomach disorders and muscle pain.
In addition to statins, low-dose aspirin may be recommended by doctors as well. Low-dose aspirin may also prevent the formation of blood clots. Aspirin is generally not be consumed by children under the age of 16 years.
For people with high cholesterol who can not take statins because of their side effects, are taking any other medications that performance can be impaired, or have a disease that can get worse if taking a statin, your doctor will probably prescribe ezetimibe. These drugs can also be combined with a statin if statin use is not enough to succeed in lowering cholesterol levels. Ezetimibe works by preventing the absorption of cholesterol in the intestine from food. Ezetimibe is usually not as effective as statins, but the side effects caused smaller.
Patients can take ezetimibe and statins simultaneously if their high cholesterol levels can be lowered simply not enough with statins. The side effects that arise from this combination is generally the same as those appearing on the use of statins, namely disorders of the stomach or pain in the muscles.
Lowering trigiserida with drugs
Niacin is usually given to those who have high levels of trigiserida. Niacin is a B vitamin found in foods and multivitamin supplements. In high doses given through prescription, niacin can lower triglycerides and increase good cholesterol or HDL.
However, the use of high doses also could lead to side effects such as skin becomes red. These side effects can also be reduced by avoiding consumption of spicy foods.
Niacin is usually not given to those who are experiencing abdominal pain, heartburn, indigestion, or those at risk of developing these conditions. Niacin users will usually advised to undergo regular blood tests to make sure their liver is functioning properly.
In addition to niacin, a fibrate class of drugs can also be given to reduce excessive levels of triglycerides in the blood. These drugs work by decreasing the production of VLDL kind of cholesterol (very-low-density lipoprotein). This type of cholesterol contains mostly triglycerides.
In addition, as mentioned above, most nutritional experts believe that omega-3 can help address high triglycerides. Apart from food, there are also omega-3 supplementation that you can get for free. Consult substance use this to your doctor because it may affect other medications you are currently taking.
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