Prevent Cardiovascular Disease Starting Now

The World Health Organization has stated that the UK has one of the highest rates of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) in the world.

It’s also the leading cause of death worldwide, so securing the health of your heart is not something to put off until later. Strong evidence suggests that high cholesterol levels increase your risk of Heart Attacks, Coronary Heart Disease and Strokes. So understanding cholesterol is a good, first step to keeping your heart strong and free from disease.

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a necessary, fatty substance known as a lipid, mainly created by the liver, but also found in certain foods. Cholesterol is carried by proteins through the bloodstream and when combined, they are called lipoproteins. We have all heard of “good” and “bad” cholesterol and this refers to the two types of lipoproteins:

• High-density lipoprotein (HDL) – Known as the “good cholesterol”, it carries “bad cholesterol” back to the liver to be broken down.
• Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) – Known as the “bad cholesterol”, it carries cholesterol from the liver to areas in the arteries that need it, acting like a plaster to cover damage, however, it can build up too much, forming hardened plaques.

Cardiovascular Disease can occur when the blood supply becomes partially or totally obstructed by fatty plaques caused by high levels of LDL.

How is cholesterol measured?

Cholesterol levels can easily be measured with a simple blood test, which detects the levels of HDL, LDL and triglycerides in the blood. Results are given in millimoles per litre of blood (mmol/L). Below are the optimum ranges of results from cholesterol tests for a healthy adult:

• 5mmol/L or less
• 3mmol/L or less of LDL
• 1mmol/L or more of HDL
• 1.7mmol/L or less for triglycerides

How can I prevent Cardiovascular Disease and lower my cholesterol levels?

Now you have some understanding of what Cardiovascular Disease is and what the healthy ranges for cholesterol test results are, you can take the next steps, outlined below, to prevent CVD and keep your cholesterol levels in check.

• Stop smoking – Smoking prevents “bad cholesterol” being carried to the liver to be broken down, leaving it to build up in the arteries, so stopping will enhance its ability to remove LDL.
• Exercise regularly – A lack of exercise has been shown to increase levels of LDL. In addition, regular exercise has been shown to boost HDL levels in the body.
• Stay at a healthy weight – It’s easy to say and much harder to do, but obesity has been shown to negatively affect cholesterol test results across LDL, HDL and triglycerides.
• Eat well – Eating foods high in saturated fat such as fatty meats, butter, biscuits, crisps and cakes can increase your levels of “bad cholesterol”, so cutting down on these will help out your cardiovascular system. Unsaturated fats, however, have been shown to increase levels of “good cholesterol”. This includes foods like olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds and oily fish.
• Drink less alcohol – Regularly drinking to excess has been shown to increase cholesterol levels and triglycerides, so keeping alcohol consumption down will also help!
• Get your cholesterol levels checked – Knowing your current cholesterol levels is a great way to keep a check on whether it’s going the right way or not. It can spur you into action if you lose motivation with implementing healthy habits.
• Support UK heart charities – Charities like the British Heart Foundation, Heart UK and Heart Research UK are all doing important work to enable people living with CVD to live healthily for longer and conducting important research to help understand diseases of the cardiovascular system and develop new treatments to reverse or stop disease. By supporting them you’re ensuring that in the long-term medicines and good advice will be available to you, your friends and your family, should any CVD develop.

Take a look at Bluecrest Screening infographic to find out more about Cholesterol in the UK

By reducing the nation’s cholesterol levels by 5% would prevent 64,000 occurrences of CVD. Through following the advice above, you’ll not only give your own heart the best chance of staying disease free, supporting one of our fantastic heart charities, will help others too.