All Cholesterol Articles

An inexpensive combination of a cholesterol-lowering drug and one to reduce blood pressure can reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes by as much as 60 percent, but prompting patients to begin the regimen and then to stay on it is an extremely difficult task, researchers say. Giving the drugs to nearly 70,000 people with cardiovascular disease or diabetes prevented an estimated Read more...

Doctors have for the first time quantified the effect of the three major killers of middle-aged men: smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Men who smoke and fail to give up, or to control their blood pressure and cholesterol (where necessary) are sacrificing 10 to 15 years of their lives. Results from the 40-year Whitehall study, landmark research into 19,000 civil servants Read more...

(Low-Density Lipoprotein [LDL] Lowering Diet) by Maria Adams, MS, MPH, RD The primary goal of this diet is to lower your levels of LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. This diet may also raise your levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol. Having too much bad cholesterol—and/or not enough of the good kind—can cause plaque to build up in your arteries. Over time, this build-up narrows Read more...

What You Should Know Too much cholesterol in your blood, organs and arteries increases your health risks. Your body automatically makes cholesterol -- a waxy, fatlike substance in the blood. Some people naturally produce more cholesterol than other people. Your liver and other cells in your body make about 75 percent of blood cholesterol. About 25 percent of our cholesterol comes from Read more...

Cholesterol can affect the flow of the electrical currents that generate the heart beat, causing cardiac arrhythmias, researchers in Canada and France said. Scientists had long known cholesterol plays an important role in regulating the heart's electrical system, but they didn't know how. University of British Columbia researchers David Fedida and Jodene Eldstrom along with researchers in Read more...

SYDNEY, Australia -- Eggs should no longer be viewed as bad for heart health, say experts who are rallying to the defense of the nutrient-packed staple. A visiting U.S. egg expert says their bad reputation is no longer warranted, while The Heart Foundation has also lifted its recommended intake to six eggs a week. "Seniors have been afraid to eat eggs because for 40 years they have Read more...

Dr. Stephen Devine is on a mission to raise levels of HDL, or the "good" cholesterol. Devine, a Gundersen Lutheran cardiologist who specializes in non-invasive ways to prevent heart disease, said low levels of HDL can lead to diabetes and heart disease. He and Dr. Brendan Doyle, a Mayo Clinic cardiologist who works at Franciscan Skemp, are seeing more patients with below-normal Read more...

For years, doctors have used cholesterol as the main measure of a person's heart health, but a new study suggests that testing for another substance in the blood may be just as important. Aggressively lowering cholesterol as well as a substance in the blood known as C-reactive protein, or CRP, led to a greater reduction in heart attacks, strokes and deaths than cutting cholesterol alone, Read more...

A U.S. study suggests some statin drugs used to lower cholesterol may also reduce sexual pleasure, researchers said. The research, involving more than 1,000 adults with high LDL cholesterol, found patients who took simvastatin -- marketed as Zocor -- had the largest LDL drop and the largest drop in sexual pleasure, USA Today reported Friday. Pravastatin -- marketed as Pravachol -- did not Read more...

Scientists hope to end the "ingrained misconception" linking eggs with high cholesterol and heart disease with new research. Nearly half (45 percent) of the UK public believe they should eat a maximum of three eggs a week, but a study has concluded that cholesterol in eggs has only a small and clinically insignificant effect on blood cholesterol. The British Heart Foundation Read more...

by Christine Perry Cholesterol. You've heard it's "bad for you," but why? Where does it come from? Does it do anything besides clog your arteries? This article will explain the relationship between high cholesterol and heart disease, describe the different types of cholesterol, and review several ways to lower a high cholesterol level, including exercise, a low-fat diet, Read more...

Even if you've sworn off butter and cheese and your group cycling instructor knows you by name, your heart may still be in jeopardy. "While eating a diet low in saturated fat, exercising regularly, and not smoking play a large role in preventing cardiovascular disease, they're not the entire story," says Jennifer H. Mieres, M.D., a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association. In Read more...

Recent headlines reported that the drug Crestor cut nearly in half the number of heart attacks and strokes even in people with low cholesterol. The results sounded so good, people may have been tempted to run out and ask their doctor for a prescription. The news is good, but local doctors caution that the implications apply only to people who are already at elevated risk for heart attack Read more...

Could eating grapes help fight high blood pressure related to a salty diet? And could grapes calm other factors that are also related to heart diseases such as heart failure? A new University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center study suggests so. The new study, published in the October issue of the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, gives tantalizing clues to the potential of grapes Read more...

Onions are known for flavor, but they are also healthy for you, says the National Onion Association. The NOA says onions contain organosulfur compounds linked to lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. The non-profit group says that members of the Allium family like onion and garlic also contain alliinase, which is an enzyme that speeds up chemical reactions. Alliinase helps create Read more...

Q: Is it true that eggs contain cholesterol? And how many eggs can I eat each week? A: Eggs do contain a type of cholesterol found in many foods, called dietary cholesterol. Eggs, liver, kidneys and shrimp are higher in dietary cholesterol than other foods. But the cholesterol we get from our food has much less effect on the level of cholesterol in our blood than the amount of Read more...

Inclusion of pistachios in a healthy diet beneficially affects cardiovascular disease risk factors in a dose-dependent manner, U.S. researchers said. Sarah K. Gebauer, a post-doctoral research associate at Pennsylvania State University, conducted a randomized, crossover design, controlled feeding experiment to test the effects of pistachios added to a heart healthy moderate-fat diet on Read more...

Heart disease has become a leading cause of disability and death in the Mid-South of America. Compared to U.S. averages, heart disease is far more common among people in the South. The facts and advice below apply to all people with a heart health risk. The risk of heart disease increases with age. Fat and cholesterol often build up in arteries as we age. Arteries may harden. Many seniors Read more...

The curiosity of biochemists, mixed with some obvious economic incentives, created a family of powerful cardiovascular drugs In 1966, Akira Endo, a young Japanese biochemist, started an adventure that would ultimately save thousands, if not millions, of lives. Only 33 years old at the time, Endo was a research scientist at Sankyo-a pharmaceutical company, later known as Daiichi Sankyo, in Read more...

Talk about taking a hit in the breadbasket. A new study finds that a low-carb diet results in greater weight loss and better cholesterol than a low-fat regimen that promotes a lot of grains and fruits. A Mediterranean diet yielded results between the two, researchers in Israel report in the July 17 New England Journal of Medicine. By conducting a trial within a single workplace, the Read more...