Cholesterol : Cholesterol also called HDL, Hypercholesterolemia, Hyperlipidemia, Hyperlipoproteinemia, LDL. Cholesterol is a chemical compound that the body requires as a building block for cell membranes and for hormones like estrogen and testosterone. The liver produces about 80% of the body's cholesterol and the rest comes from dietary sources like meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and dairy products. Foods derived from plants contain no cholesterol.
Cholesterol content in the bloodstream is regulated by the liver. After a meal, cholesterol in the diet is absorbed from the small intestine and metabolized and stored in the liver. As the body requires cholesterol, it may be secreted by the liver.
When too much cholesterol is present in the body, it can build up in deposits called plaque along the inside walls of arteries, causing them to narrow.
The parcels of cholesterol are carried by two types of lipoprotein.
? Low-density lipoprotein (LDL - cholesterol carried by this type is known as 'bad' cholesterol)
? High-density lipoprotein (HDL - cholesterol carried by this type is known as 'good' cholesterol).
Cholesterol has four main functions, without which we could not live. It:
? Contributes to the structure of cell walls
? Makes up digestive bile acids in the intestine
? Allows the body to produce vitamin D
? Enables the body to make certain hormones.
Medication
There are four classes of medication that can lower cholesterol levels including statins, niacin, bile acid resins, and fibric acid derivatives.
• A variety of statin drugs are on the market including simvastatin (Zocor),atorvastatin (Lipitor), pravastatin(Pravachol), fluvastatin (Lescol),lovastatin (Mevacor), and rosuvastatin(Crestor). These drugs primarily decrease LDL.
• Cholestyramine (Questran) is a bile acid resin and decreases LDL.
• Fibric acid resins lower LDL and include gemfibrozil (Lopid) and fenofibrate (Tricor).
• Niaspan is the prescription form of niacin and decreases LDL andtriglycerides as well as increases HDL.