9-1-09

Cholesterol Education

High blood cholesterol can increase a person’s risk for coronary heart disease, but a few lifestyle changes can lower someone’s cholesterol level and improve health.

Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans and one of the risk factors for heart disease is high cholesterol.  Cholesterol is a substance that occurs naturally in the body and when it is too high, can cause a build up of plaque in the heart vessels, says Dr. Susan Hingle, associate professor of internal medicine at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.  She says several things can affect cholesterol levels.

SOUND BITE:  TR 1 (0:48 – 1:08)  “There is a two-pronged approach to cholesterol.  Part of it is genetics, so the things you inherit from your parents and grandparents.   And then the other is what we call life-style issues and the things that impact that are predominantly are diet and activity level or exercise.”

Dr. Hingle says cholesterol is measured with a specific blood test, which is done after fasting for 10 to 12 hours.  The test results will provide a reading for total cholesterol, HDL which is the good cholesterol, and LDL which is the bad cholesterol.  She explains the ideal readings --

SOUND BITE: TR 1  (1:34 - 2:12)  For total cholesterol, our goal is to have that less than 200.  . . .  (1:58) For the good cholesterol, you want that one as high as possible.  And you want that higher than 40.  For the bad cholesterol, it depends on your other risk factors for stroke and heart disease, but for most people, we want the bad cholesterol at least under 130.”

Dr. Hingle advises all adults to see their personal physician and have their cholesterol checked regularly.  If cholesterol readings are not in a healthy range, the physician may recommend lifestyle changes as well as medication to lower cholesterol.

This is Ruth Slottag at SIU School of Medicine in Springfield.