SearchExclusive.com

Understanding Cholesterol Levels

Understanding cholesterol levels

Blood cholesterol test is a very common test to assess the risk of heart attack. The doctor measures the levels of good and bad cholesterol in your blood to arrive at a conclusion about your risk for heart attack. But how does the doctor arrive at a conclusion? What does he check? Which parameter is the best indicator of risk of heart diseases? These are some of the questions that even doctors have deliberated at times. Until recently, total cholesterol used to be a significant indicator of a heart condition. But nowadays, doctors are depending more on non-HDL cholesterol level and cholesterol ratios to predict the risk of heart disease. In fact, both cholesterol HDL LDL level and cholesterol ratio are now known to be better indicators of risk of heart disease than just total cholesterol or total LDL.

Who should get a cholesterol check?
It is universally accepted that people below 40 should get a cholesterol check at least every five years, if not more frequently. It is known as lipoprotein profile. This includes cholesterol HDL LDL level, amount of low-density lipoprotein, amount of high-density lipoprotein, and triglycerides.

What are the optimal parameters of blood cholesterol?
Total cholesterol of less than 200 mg/dL is good, but your total cholesterol HDL LDL level may not be within the desirable range. For LDL cholesterol, the optimal level is less than 100 mg/dL, and for HDL or good cholesterol, it is more than 60. Similarly, for triglycerides, the optimal level is less than 150.

Cholesterol ratio
Doctors are now emphasizing on cholesterol ratio than individual cholesterol numbers. You too can calculate your cholesterol ratio by dividing your total cholesterol number by your HDL number. A ratio of 3.5-to-1 is considered to be an optimal ratio. A higher ratio translates to a higher risk of heart disease.

Total cholesterol
Testing of total cholesterol is easy, and you don’t need to fast for this. This includes both good, i.e., HDL cholesterol and bad, i.e., LDL cholesterol. HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein, and LDL stands for low-density lipoprotein. The optimal number of total cholesterol that indicates a healthy heart is below 200. But since total cholesterol is a combination of LDL and HDL, a good number for total cholesterol may not indicate a good number for HDL or a good number for LDL. So, even if your total cholesterol HDL and LDL is in a healthy range, your HDL and LDL may or may not be in a healthy range individually. This is why total cholesterol is not considered to be an absolute indicator of risk of heart problems.

LDL cholesterol
LDL is considered to be the bad guy in cholesterol measurement. A high number of LDL increases the risk of heart attack. The most desirable level for LDL is 70 mg/dL. LDL can be measured directly as a variable in a non-fasting blood sample.

For testing LDL, you need to fast for about 12 hours. This is needed since triglyceride level may shoot up after a meal and distort the measurement. If you are alcoholic, then you should stay away from it for at least 24 hours before the test.

HDL cholesterol
HDL helps in the destruction of LDL. An HDL level of 60 or more is considered to be good, and a level of 40 or less is considered to be dangerous for the person.

Non-HDL cholesterol
You can get your non-HDL cholesterol number by subtracting HDL cholesterol level from total cholesterol level. This contains all the harmful cholesterol. A level of less than 130 mg/dL is considered to be an optimal level for non-HDL cholesterol. If you get a higher number, you are at risk of heart disease.

Ratio of total cholesterol to HDL
The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL is considered to be a measure of risk for heart diseases. Low total cholesterol to HDL is considered good since this indicates that the total quantity of HDL in total cholesterol is high. On the other hand, a high ratio of total cholesterol to HDL indicates that the quantity of HDL in total cholesterol is not significant.

LDL-HDL ratio
An LDL-HDL ratio can be obtained simply by dividing the number for LDL with the number obtained for HDL. A lower ratio indicates that the amount of HDL is substantial in comparison to the amount of LDL. This is good for your heart. On the other hand, a higher ratio indicates that the amount of HDL is not significant in comparison to the amount of LDL. This may not be good for your heart.

Related Reading

Tips for Buying the Best Dog Food

Most of the dogs do not have a food fuss and may eat almost anything that you feed them. Dogs are not choosy at all when it comes to food and nutrition. Hence, it is important to make sure that the food that you are purchasing for your dog is healthy. The landscape of dog food has been developing by leaps and bounds in recent times. There is a wide variety of options to choose from in the online and offline market. Given the wide range of options that are available today, buying the best dog food might seem to be a confusing task indeed. All the commercial pet food that is available in the market today is regulated by the FDA. Therefore, most of the products do contain nutritious, healthy, and safe ingredients. But it does help to know certain basic factors you should look for while buying food for your dog. Prioritize on the nutritional guarantee The best dog food, which meets the dog’s needs adequately has a statement written on the label of the product, from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. Buy from some of the best dog food brands, such as Fromm Family Foods, Earthborn Holistic, Nature’s Variety Instinct, and The Honest Kitchen.

Different Types of Kitchen Cabinets Available for Your Home

The most important aspect when designing your kitchen is deciding on the type of cabinets. In addition to functionality, kitchen cabinets score on aesthetics as well. Once the layout is planned, you can go ahead with choosing the cabinets. If you’re remodeling your home or just the kitchen, what you need to consider are the types of cabinets that furnish your kitchen. Here are a few types of kitchen cabinets that you can choose from. Base cabinets These kitchen cabinets are mounted on the floor and they are placed after checking out the floor plan. A major part of your job in the kitchen is on these base cabinets, which hold and support the countertops. These base cabinets are combined to carve out kitchen islands. A number of base cabinets are fused/set against one another and installed on site. The base cabinets, in addition to supporting the countertops, serve as drawers to hold your cutlery and appliances. Wall cabinets Mounted on the walls, these cabinets can store everything, right from your cookware to cookbooks. In terms of design, they offer utmost flexibility. Wall cabinet kitchen is available in varying heights, multiple widths, and custom depth options. This customization helps you to fit in your stuff of varying shapes and sizes into the wall cabinets.

How to Pick the Right Dog Food for a Sensitive Stomach

In today’s world, where you are presented with over a dozen choices for every item you would purchase for your own kitchen, it is not surprising that you have an equal number of options for your dog’s food. However, choosing the perfect brand and formula for your dog out of a range of options in the market is not an easy job. Your pet depends on you and trusts you to make the right choice for them. Therefore, it is imperative that you do your research about the products available in the market, understand what your dog needs, know what might be your pet’s problems, and then make a sound decision. What is a sensitive stomach? Dogs are known to have voracious and large appetites. Keeping that in mind, it is normal to assume that they have strong stomachs. They can eat close to anything be it sweets, bakes, chewy gum, hard leather or even woolen socks for that matter! It always so happens that the strongest of them are prone to allergies and can develop a disorder which is medically translated as a sensitive stomach. This might be due to a sudden change in the food habits or even due an infection picked up from somewhere.

All You Need to Know about Cat Food

For cat owners, cat food is a hot topic. You need to think about it in different aspects. The best thing is to know which ingredients are good for cat food and which are harmful. If you are aware of this, you can get an idea about the quality of the cat food just by going through the label. It is always sensible to stick to one brand of cat food. However, you may also want to try and prepare cat food yourself. There are also various options for wet cat food as well. Cat’s love for fish is universal, so you can do without going for expensive cat food. Nevertheless, whether you buy it or prepare cat food at home, you need to ensure that the food contains enough nutrition and calories. You would need to have some idea about the ingredients that must be present in cat food and make a worthy selection for your cat. Basic ingredients present in good cat foods Cats need a variety of nutrients to stay healthy and active; they need various vitamins, minerals, fats, proteins, and oils. The following is a brief explanation of the basic ingredients that should be present in cat foods.