Do You Know What The High Cholesterol Risk Factors Are?
High cholesterol is a big problem in today\'s society. If your Doctor finds out via a blood test that your cholesterol level is high they may advise you to change your eating habits to reduce your cholesterol level or they may immediately prescribe medication to help reduce the cholesterol level to within a health range.
Studies show that if you do have a high cholesterol level, you increase your risk of getting heart disease while people who have low levels of cholesterol are not likely to develop this problem. Like many other diseases or conditions of the body, there are numerous factors that influence whether you develop the disease or condition. There are some risk factors that can be changed, however, there are some that cannot. Overall, the more risk factors you have, the more likely you will experience heart disease. The most important thing is to focus on the factors you can change but is important to recognize the ones you can not.
The following are things you can not change:
Age Unfortunately, there is an increased risk with increasing age. For males it is from 45 years or older and for females, it is from 55 years of age or older.
Genetics Did your parents or a close relative die from heart disease?
High Blood Pressure Do you have a genetic predisposition to this disease?
Diabetes Do you have a family history of diabetes?
Now, it is not all bad news. There are a lot of risk factors that you can change or do something about. These include:
* High levels of bad cholesterol
* Low levels of good cholesterol
* History of smoking
* High blood pressure
* History of diabetes
* Not exercising and living a sedentary lifestyle
* Excessive weight
If you do not know what your cholesterol level or reading is, you may want to consult a physician to organize a blood test to find out your current level. If you do find out that your cholesterol level is too high, act and do something about it. Focus on the risk factors that you can do something about.
Most experts agree that high cholesterol and heart disease are connected. Assess your risk factors from the list above. Focus on the ones you have and do something positive everyday to bring about a change. Often small changes in a few things will add up and bring about a big change in reducing your cholesterol level and thereby extending your life expectancy.