Many times, we hear from the uninformed saying that they “suffer from cholesterol” or that they have “high cholesterol”. It sounds like to them cholesterol is a disease or something that needs to be kept low at all costs. In fact, when we talk about cholesterol it is good to know that it is a fat (or lipid) that circulates through the human body through the blood. But the two, cholesterol and blood, do not mix. And this happens with the help of lipoproteins, which carry cholesterol through the blood.
In order to stop spreading the general idea that this cholesterol is bad, specialists tell us that it is good to know that there is also cholesterol beneficial to the body. This is HDL cholesterol or the so-called “good cholesterol”. High-density lipoproteins transport cholesterol from the body to the liver before it can deposit on the walls of blood arteries and cause serious consequences, such as thickening of the artery walls, atherosclerosis, and heart attacks.
LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol is the cholesterol everyone fears and the one with serious health consequences. Low-density lipoproteins are what carry cholesterol from the body into the blood. Hence its nickname, “bad cholesterol” because LDL lipoproteins have the effect of keeping cholesterol on the walls of the arteries, which can thicken and cause serious heart disease or other related conditions.
Therefore, when we test ourselves for cholesterol, it is good to know that both values, HDL and LDL, must be measured, so that we know exactly if the famous bad cholesterol is at alarming levels or if the good cholesterol is at low levels, and thus it no longer performs its correctly the role of protector of the arteries.
2023-11-24 13:05:29
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