Aug. 19, 2021 | The question used to be, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Nowadays, the question is, can I eat eggs or not? Chicken eggs are an affordable source of protein and other nutrients. They’re also naturally high in cholesterol. But the cholesterol in eggs doesn’t seem to raise cholesterol levels the way other cholesterol-containing foods do, such as trans fats and saturated fats.  Although some studies have found a link between eating eggs and heart disease, there may be other reasons for these findings. The foods people typically eat with eggs, such as bacon, sausage and ham, may do more to boost heart disease risk than eggs do. Plus, the way eggs and other foods are cooked, especially if fried in oil or butter, may play more of a role in the increased risk of heart disease than eggs themselves do. So, if you like eggs but don’t want the cholesterol, use only the egg whites. Egg whites contain no cholesterol but still contain plenty of protein.

Aug. 19, 2021 | Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood. Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease. With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits grow, making it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. Sometimes, those deposits can break suddenly and form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke. High cholesterol can be inherited, but it’s often the result of unhealthy lifestyle choices, which make it preventable and treatable. A healthy diet, regular exercise and sometimes medication can help reduce high cholesterol. Cholesterol levels should be measured at least once every 5 years in everyone over the age of 20. The screening test that is usually done is a blood test called a lipid profile. Experts recommend that men 35 and older and women 45 and older be screened for lipid disorders more often.

Aug. 19, 2021 | Approximately 13 percent of U.S. adults has high total cholesterol. But what exactly is high cholesterol? High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is the good cholesterol. The benefit of HDL lies in the fact that it carries bad cholesterol back to the liver. In doing so, it cleanses cholesterol from the bloodstream. Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol, is the bad cholesterol. The higher the level of LDL cholesterol, the greater your risk of a heart attack. When your cholesterol is checked, you get a number for total cholesterol, one for the HDL level, and one for the LDL level. Your total cholesterol will be more than the sum of the HDL and LDL numbers. Either a high HDL number or a high LDL number can make your total cholesterol number high. If it’s high because of a high HDL number, your health is not necessarily in danger. However, if it’s high because your LDL cholesterol level is high, it’s important to talk with your doctor about your health.

Aug. 19, 2021 | High cholesterol usually does not cause symptoms, so most people do not know they have it until they are tested during a routine doctor’s visit. Very high levels may cause symptoms such as fatty bumps on your skin, called xanthomas, or grayish-white rings around the corneas in your eye, called corneal arcus. Undiagnosed or untreated high blood cholesterol can lead to serious problems, such as heart attack and stroke. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends that cholesterol screenings occur every one to two years for men ages 45 to 65 and for women ages 55 to 65. People over the age of 65 should receive cholesterol tests annually. If your test results aren’t within desirable ranges, your doctor might recommend more frequent measurements. Your doctor might also suggest more frequent tests if you have a family history of high cholesterol, heart disease or other risk factors, such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Aug. 19, 2021 | There are certain steps you can take to manage your high cholesterol. Regular aerobic exercise can increase your good cholesterol, or HDL, and decrease your bad cholesterol, or LDL. You can also lower your cholesterol by eating foods low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fat. You can replace these bad fat foods with foods high in mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. This includes eating fish with omega-3 fatty acids like salmon. In addition, eating soluble fibers, such as oats, pectin, and psyllium, will help reduce LDL cholesterol. If heart-healthy lifestyle changes alone are not enough, your doctor may prescribe a statin or other medicine to help lower and control your high blood cholesterol levels. If you start taking a statin or other medicine, your doctor may order a lipid panel one to three months later to see whether the drug is working. Repeat tests may be done every three to 12 months after that to make sure your cholesterol levels remain healthy.