Cholesterol Treatment: Benefits and Risk Factor

Cholesterol treatment is the treatment which helps in lowering the levels of bad cholesterol to prevent atherosclerosis and ensuing heart attacks. Before cholesterol treatment is prescribed, the doctor would request a few tests to ascertain what the levels of the cholesterol are there in the blood. The doctor will also look into your health history to judge the intensity of risk involved.

Risk Factors

In case you have a history of heart attack in the family, in case you smoke, in case you have already developed high blood pressure, diabetes and/or have a history of atherosclerosis or heart disease, for instance, then the cholesterol treatment would be chalked out accordingly. However, if the risk factors (as enumerated above) are low the doctors would then prescribe a medicine-less therapy which would mostly consist of change in diet and life style.

However, if one or more high risk symptoms are found to be present, and the levels of cholesterol (LDL in particular) are high too, then the doctors will start you on medication, as per dictates of the stage of the disease.

It is common knowledge that bad cholesterol of LDL cholesterol is instrumental in causing atherosclerosis. This disease is the first step towards heart attack and eventually death. Atherosclerosis is a progressive disease which can start extremely early in life. Since it does not have any particular symptoms, it will progress silently and manifest itself through heart pain (angina) and heart attacks.

The cholesterol treatment the doctor prescribes will aim to reverse this trend. While medicines are found to be efficient, some studies show that they are not enough. People who develop atherosclerosis are still at risk to get heart attacks even with the most appropriate regime of diet, exercise and lifestyle. What seems to help is the increasing of the levels of HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol).

The HDL cholesterol removes/ cleans the arteries of the plaque formed by the fat and other debris accumulation thereby uncluttering the arteries and returning the cardiovascular system to its healthy form. This cholesterol treatment is what really helps in the end. Unless the arteries are "cleaned", the risk of heart attack will loom large even if the bad cholesterol is brought under control.

In order to be informed about the risk from an early stage, when it is easier to reverse the atherosclerosis, you would need to take a cholesterol test at least once in every three years. You should also be careful about what type of fat you consume and reduce the saturated fats to the minimum possible.

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