Calculating Cholesterol - Know Your Numbers

Calculating cholesterol in the blood is getting easier with lots of new home test kits available so there is no excuse for everyone to not know their levels. Finding out your cholesterol numbers is important, too high and you risk the chances of cardiovascular diseases developing such as coronary artery disease and heart attacks which can and do kill millions of people every year. As well as increasing your risk of having a debilitating stroke and maybe partial or total paralysis.

It is essential for good health to keep your blood pumping around the body delivering oxygen to the cells and removing waste products. Increased levels of cholesterol in the blood can prevent this flow by in some cases slowing it down and in others actually doing harm. Excessive amounts of cholesterol in the blood can form deposits called plaque, these have the effect of partially and in some cases totally blocking blood vessels. This has 2 main effects - the blood flow is reduced by the narrowing of the vein or artery and also the deposit makes the wall of the blood vessel less flexible, this is often described as hardening of the arteries.

Calculating cholesterol normally gives you four measurements, the total amount of cholesterol in the blood, the amount of triglycerides, the amount of high density lipoprotein and the amount of low density lipoprotein. Most Health Authorities recommend safe levels for each of the four readings. They also say that people who already have any heart or circulation problems already must maintain lower levels even lower than these to have any chance of better health in the future. In most countries they now recommend that total cholesterol should not exceed five millimols per litre of blood, LDL levels should not exceed three minimols and tryglycerides no more than one minimol. HDL is the exception, HDL or high density lipoprotein is regarded as the good cholesterol. It's role in the body is to keep the LDL in check. For this reason, there is a minimum level set as opposed to a maximum, the amount of high density lipoprotein recommended for a healthy cardiovascular system is one minimol per litre of blood.

Your cholesterol numbers are a good indication of your overall health and lifestyle. Although high blood cholesterol levels can be passed down through the generations they are mainly affected by our general lifestyle choices. The foods that we eat, the amount of exercise we do each day or week and our body mass index which is calculated using our weight, height and build. So calculating cholesterol is critical for planning a long healthy life.

Sue Roberts