This article will discuss what is cholesterol. There is much said about this substance in the press or in advertisements along the lines of must get it lower. However there is more to cholesterol than simply eat this type of food to get it lower. This article will cover the good cholesterol, the bad cholesterol and the ugly consequences should you not heed the warning signs that your level is too high.
Cholesterol serves a purpose in the body. It makes the cell walls more robust, it helps to convert sunlight to vitamin D on the skin. It also helps to produce certain hormones that are vital for regulating the body's metabolism.
In terms of structure, it is a white color with a waxy consistency. Many people think of it as similar to ear wax. Most of the cholesterol that the body needs is created in the liver. The rest, around 20% is taken from the foods that we eat.
So cholesterol is vital to the body's overall health but too much is detrimental to it. The current thoughts on an ideal cholesterol level are that anything over 200mg per deciliter of blood is not good for the body.
What is Bad Cholesterol
The bloodstream is the method in which cholesterol is transported throughout the body (like many other substances vital to the wellbeing and health of the body). However, cholesterol is not soluble in water (or blood) so needs a transport that it can attach itself to in the bloodstream.
This transport is called a lipoprotein. Cholesterol leaves the liver to be used throughout the body on the lipoproteins known as low density lipoproteins (LDL cholesterol or bad cholesterol). It is thought of as bad because it moves cholesterol out into the body where it can have negative affects if there is too much of it.
What is Good Cholesterol.
Good cholesterol is the opposite of bad cholesterol. It acts as a transport that moves cholesterol back to the liver from the rest of the body. This can thus reduce the disease producing consequences of too much cholesterol in the body. Once the cholesterol in returned to the liver it is excreted out of the body. Good cholesterol is known as a high density lipoprotein.
The Ugly Fate Should Warnings Go Unheeded
With too much bad cholesterol circulating in the bloodstream, the excess amount of cholesterol in the system can be transported throughout the body. This often results in cholesterol being deposited in parts of the body where it cannot be used. One common area where this occurs is on the inner walls of the arteries. This is referred to as plaque.
If the build up of plaque continues the person can have a number of health problems. Because the diameter of the arteries is decreased the heart has to work harder to get blood to the body. This can lead to heart disease. As the walls received more plaque the person is said to have a condition known as atherosclerosis.
As plaque continues to build up the person is increasingly open to more life threatening problems. Apart from heart disease, plaque could break of the walls and cause blood clots. Blood clots generally cause strokes.
headache remedies
