High and Lows of Cholesterol
Your Health
By Dr. Sid Pani, MD
Unless you are at risk for heart disease or stroke, you need to check your lipid profile once every five years after the age of 20. Men aged 35 years and women aged 45 years should be routinely screened for high lipids. If you are at risk for heart disease or stroke, your lipid profile needs to be screened annually.
Atorvastatin, which is a cholesterol-lowering medication, is probably the most prescribed medication in the world. This gives us some indication of how prevalent the problem of high cholesterol is in the community.
Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides are the "bad" players in the lipid panel. LDL should ideally be less than 100 mg/dl, triglycerides less than 150 mg/dl and total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dl.
HDL cholesterol is the "good" player in the lipid panel. The higher the HDL cholesterol level, the better off one is. An HDL level below 40 mg/dl is considered a risk factor for heart disease. Before we discuss medications that
may be used for high cholesterol, here are a few tips:
Set a target
Based on your cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking) LDL goals differ. With risk factors, most doctors would set the target for LDL at less than 70 mg/dl.
If your risk is moderate, a target LDL of less than 130 mg/dl is considered acceptable.
If your risk is low, a level of less than 160 mg/dl may be a reasonable target.
I personally believe in treating earlier, especially if you have more than two risk factors. Based on your cardiovascular risk factors (obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking) LDL goals differ. With risk factors, most doctors would set the target for LDL at less than 70 mg/dl.
Exercise
Lowering LDL is good, but we need to raise HDL levels. Regular aerobic exercise is a good strategy to raise HDL. Dr.
Harrington, professor of
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