blood stream. When an overabundance of LDLs are passing through the artery walls they agitate altroschlorosis (an inflammatory disease). The excess LDL reacts with other substances in the blood and form plaque. Plaque is a thick hard deposit that restricts the flow of blood through the arteries. (Health Pages, 1998) HDL is a dense compact microparticle. HDL moves through arteries and picks up plaque and excess LDL that have not been used yet. HDLs then return back to the liver. Once at the liver some of the HDL is processed again and sent back out into the blood as LDL, but most of the cholesterol collected is turned into bile and excreted from the body. (Cleveland Clinic, 2000) When your levels of LDLs are significantly higher than your HDLs your arteries will become clogged. Having a high LDL count will put you at risk for many serious health problems, such as heart attack and stroke. (Chevens, 1999) If you follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly cholesterol should not pose a large problem for you. It is recommended that everyone over the age of 21 have their cholesterol level checked every five years, and even more often for the elderly. A cholesterol test is a simple blood test that any doctor can perform. The results of the blood test should contain three pieces of information 1. Total cholesterol count 2. HDL count 3. LDL count. If your total count is greater than 240 mg/dl it is too high. Your LDL count should not be above 150 mg/dl, and your HDL count should be above 45 mg/dl. (Waller, 1998)Lowering your cholesterol now can greatly reduce your health risks even for the elderly. By lowering your cholesterol levels you can improve you length and quality of life. Doctors recommend that elderly people should pay attention to their diet by eating foods low in saturated fat and total fat cholesterol. It is also recommended that they stay physically active and maintain a healthy weight. (Waller, 1998)Cholesterol is a major health...
