You may know your blood sugar and blood pressure, but do you know your cholesterol?
Less than 1 in 5 people know their cholesterol. That’s according to a study of 1,000 American adults by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. This lack of awareness extends to those at higher risk, such as heart attack and stroke survivors.A poll by The Harris Poll for the American Heart Association asked 3,511 U.S. adults, including 503 who had experienced a heart attack or stroke, if they knew their LDL (bad) cholesterol number, which is the fatty deposits in arteries, and nearly half didn’t know.
Knowing your cholesterol numbers — HDL, LDL, and triglycerides— is essential because they’re an indicator of heart health.
“We have calculators available that a clinician can plug in those numbers — a patient’s age, their sex, their cholesterol number, their sugar numbers, and blood pressure — and actually tell a patient what their 10-year risk of having a heart attack or stroke is,” said American Heart Association volunteer expert Dr. Salim S. Virani, M.D., Ph.D., a cardiologist and vice provost for research for Aga Khan University.
Understanding cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy substance in the blood that helps the body build cells, vitamins, and hormones. While it’s made naturally in the liver, cholesterol also comes from the food and drinks people consume. Too much cholesterol in the blood can cause problems, including heart attack and stroke.
You may not even know you have high cholesterol because there aren’t symptoms. People 20 to 39 should check their cholesterol once every four to six years. Adults 40 and older, or anyone who’s had a heart attack or stroke, should talk with their doctor about how often to get tested.
Only a blood test, called a lipid panel, can show you your cholesterol numbers. The test looks at three factors:
- LDL: “L for lousy, so that’s the bad cholesterol,” Dr. Virani said. Low-density lipoproteins (LDL) can cause fatty buildups, known as plaque in arteries, which can increase risks for heart attacks and strokes. Various research studies on LDL have shown “lower is better”.
- HDL: High-density lipoproteins (HDL), considered the good cholesterol, carry LDL back to the liver, away from the arteries.
- Triglycerides: These arefats in the blood that can build up in the arteries, raising the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
“The cholesterol number that is good for someone who had a heart attack or stroke or has diabetes is much lower than a person who does not have any of these conditions,” Dr. Virani said.
Cholesterol levels can change with age. LDL and triglycerides often increase as patients get older, and post-menopausal women may have increased LDL because of hormonal changes. Through its Lower Your LDL Cholesterol Now™ initiative, the American Heart Association is encouraging people to ask their doctor to check their cholesterol numbers.
Managing risks
People can manage high cholesterol levels with medicine and lifestyle changes. For example, statins, a type of cholesterol-lowering drug, have safely and effectively been used for nearly 40 years. Other therapies are available, too.
Lifestyle changes can also be effective, such as avoiding saturated and trans fats, increasing healthy fats, cutting portion sizes, and avoiding simple sugars. Doctors advise staying active, including 150 minutes of moderate-intensity or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity per week. After making lifestyle changes or medications, patients should get follow-up cholesterol tests as recommended by their doctor. Heart.org/LDL provides resources on managing your cholesterol.
