High cholesterol, more than half of the population suffers
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What does having high cholesterol?
Cholesterol is essential for the proper functioning of body fat, but too much of this lipid can cause serious cardiovascular problems. People with high cholesterol double the risk of myocardial infarction.
For cholesterol to circulate in the blood needs to bind to lipoproteins, which have two types:
- LDL (Low Density Lipoproteins) are responsible for transporting cholesterol from the liver back to all body cells. But, an excess thereof causes accumulation of cholesterol in arterial walls. This is called "bad" cholesterol.
- HDL (High Density Lipoproteins) have the function of collecting unused cholesterol and return to the liver for storage or excretion through bile. It's called "good" cholesterol.
In Internal Medicine it considers that for cholesterol levels benefit our health, LDL should not exceed 100 mg / dl and HDL should be above 35 mg / dL for men and 40 mg / dl in women. Typically not exceed 200 mg / dl total cholesterol. A diet high in saturated fat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease or strokes. In fact, these diseases are the leading cause of death in developed countries, although we know we can prevent them with adequate food, maintaining an optimal weight, not smoking and exercising.
