Is Cholesterol a good measure of risk?

Blood cholesterol by itself is a poor predictor of individual risk of Coronary Heart Disease . There is massive overlap between cholesterol concentrations in individuals who did or did not have a heart attack. Apart from those with very high cholesterol levels an individual's cholesterol value (for 98% of the population) cannot be connected with individual risk of CHD.

People who cut their cholesterol levels with statins may raise the risk of cancer

The study found those with little of the "bad" cholesterol LDL saw more cancer case than those with higher levels.The researchers could not say if this was a side-effect of the statin or due to the low cholesterol. The analysis doesn't implicate the statin in increasing the risk of cancer where benefits of statins in lowering the risk of heart disease remain clear.There are evidence that lowering LDL cholesterol through statins saves lives by preventing heart attacks and strokes.Reasearchers examined the relationship between low, medium and high doses of statins and rates of newly diagnosed cancer. Higher rates of the disease - which were not of any type or location - were observed in the group with the lower levels.

Products to lower cholesterol

There is evidence that foods containing certain added ingredients, such as plant sterols and stanols, can reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood.Sterols and stanols can be found in specially developed products, such as some spreads and yoghurts. These foods are aimed at people who need to lower their cholesterol levels. People who don't have high cholesterol shouldn't eat these products regularly, particularly children and pregnant or breastfeeding women. If you have high cholesterol, you can help to lower it by changing your diet, without eating special products. If you do eat foods that are designed to lower cholesterol, read the label carefully to avoid eating too much.

Foods containing cholesterol ?

Some foods contain cholesterol. This type of cholesterol is called dietary cholesterol. Liver, kidneys, eggs and prawns are higher in dietary cholesterol than other foods.But the cholesterol we get from our food has much less effect on the level of cholesterol in our blood than the amount of saturated fat we eat.However, liver is also a rich source of vitamin A, which can be harmful in high amounts.So women who are pregnant should avoid eating liver, and older people at risk of bone fracture should avoid eating liver or liver products more than once a week. People who eat liver every week might want to choose not to have it more often because the body stores vitamin A and levels can build up over many years

Why do I need to know my cholesterol number?

Your cholesterol number indicates the total level of cholesterol in your blood. Cholesterol levels are usually measured as TOTAL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS (total amount of ‘GOOD’ and ‘BAD’ cholesterol). Raised cholesterol is not an illness in itself, but it is associated with a number of diseases. People with diabetes are at particular risk from a raised level of total cholesterol or a raised level of ‘BAD’ LDL-cholesterol. That’s why it is important to KNOW YOUR NUMBER as this will allow you to manage your cholesterol levels.

How can you find out what your cholesterol number is?

Measuring cholesterol levels is simple. Your GP or nurse will take a small blood sample which is then used to measure the amount of cholesterol in your blood. Before this test you will normally need to fast (not eat) for eight to twelve hours or overnight in order that an accurate reading can be made.
The only way to find out if you have a raised cholesterol number is to get a blood test as you cannot normally tell if you have a raised level. Also remember recommendations have recently changed and leading UK heart doctors now recommend lower cholesterol numbers than previously suggested. You may want to discuss this with your doctor.

What should my cholesterol number be?

a lower target for total cholesterol of below 4.0 mmol/l.

TOTAL CHOLESTEROL: below 4.0 mmol/l
• ‘BAD’ LDL-CHOLESTEROL: below 2.0 mmol/l