Do you know what your cholesterol numbers are? How about prevention and treatment of high cholesterol? Jennifer Robinson, MD, MPH, epidemiologist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and Director of the Lipid Research Clinic, says cholesterol is a fatty substance in the blood. Too much, she says, clogs up the blood vessels of the heart, brain, and legs.
To determine your cholesterol levels, Robinson says your doctor can order a fasting blood test to measure the level of cholesterol and triglycerides, another blood fat.
Robinson says LDL is "bad" cholesterol - it clogs the blood vessels and HDL is "good" cholesterol acting like a scrub brush to get the bad cholesterol out of the blood vessels.
" Unfortunately, you don't know if your cholesterol is too high until your doctor measures it. Often the first sign of high cholesterol is a heart attack or stroke. The good news is that you can prevent a heart attack or stroke by lowering your cholesterol - through both lifestyle changes and statin drugs.
" Healthy lifestyle changes are important - a low fat diet, watching your weight, and regular physical activity. But many people need a cholesterol-lowering drug to get their LDL, or bad, cholesterol low enough to undo the damage that has already occurred.
"The most effective cholesterol-lowering drugs are the statins - like Lipitor, Crestor, and Zocor - that have been proven to cut the chance of having a heart attack or stroke, and save lives. Basically, if you cut cholesterol in half you cut the chance of a heart attack or stroke, or dying from them, in half.
"The statin drugs are extremely safe - safer than aspirin," she says. "Less that one in three million people has a serious side effect from a statin. Compare this to the one out of two heart attacks and strokes that a prevented with statins.
"About one in 20 people will get achy muscles on a statin. Most of the time its not due to the statin at all - we all get aches and pains from time to time. Talk to your doctor if this happens to you - almost every time you can find a statin drug that you can take."
Once a person starts to take a medication to lower their cholesterol, they must take a form of cholesterol lowering medication the rest of their lives. The liver will start making cholesterol again if you stop the statin drug says Robinson.
"An HDL less than 40 in a man or less than 50 in a woman is considered low and this level increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes. We are doing a number of research studies with powerful drugs that raise HDL to see if this will also cut the risk of heart attack and stroke. We have about 14 studies going on right now. We are currently recruiting participants for studies where everyone gets free statin medication. We also have a study for people with diabetes. Interested people can call 384-5046 or 800-887-6917 to find out more." |
