Take Care Tuesday



What is cholesterol?

 

Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the body. Your body needs some cholesterol to work properly. But if you have too much in your body, it can stick to the walls of your arteries. This is called plaque. Plaque can narrow your arteries or even block them.

 Do you know your cholesterol numbers? Do you know what those numbers mean?

 

Keeping your cholesterol levels healthy is a great way to keep your heart healthy-and lower your chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke. Cholesterol can be tricky to understand, though, because not all is bad for you.Some is actually good for you. The most important thing you can do as a first step is to know your cholesterol numbers by getting your cholesterol tested.

All adults age 20 and over should have a fasting lipoprotein profile-which measures total cholesterol, LDL (bad) cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol and triglycerides- once every five years.

Your test report will show your cholesterol levels in milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). To determine how your cholesterol levels affect your risk of heart disease, your doctor will also take into account other risk factors such as age, family history, smoking and high blood pressure.

• Ideally your total cholesterol number should be less than 220 mg/dL.
• 200 to 239 mg/dL is considered borderline.
• 240 mg/dL and above- High cholesterol! A person with this level has more than twice the risk of coronary heart disease than someone whose cholesterol is below 200mg/dL.

Please know your numbers. Please speak with your physician about your numbers.


Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you receive from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NIV)

Source: www.heart.org (American Heart Association)