High Cholesterol Specialist

Clover Internal Medicine Associates

Board Certified Internal Medicine located in Fort Worth, TX and serving patients from Saginaw, Benbrook, North Richland Hills, Keller, River Oaks, Crowly, Burleson, Lake Worth, White Settlement, Kennedale, TX

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 94 million adults 20 years or older have cholesterol above 240 mg/dL. The recommended range is any were from 150-200 depending on age and co-morbidities. High cholesterol can cause fatty deposits to attach to your vessel walls building plaque. This causes lack of blood flow to certain organs. It can also put you at risk for the plaque to break off or causes obstruction leading to a heart attack or stroke.

682-708-0982

High Cholesterol

What is “good” cholesterol what is “bad” cholesterol?

A lipid panel is done to determine the total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein, low density lipoprotein, and triglycerides. The “good” cholesterol is the high-density lipoproteins meaning that they are a type of cholesterol that attaches to bad cholesterol and transports it to the liver for removal. So, the higher the number the more transporters we have to remove the bad cholesterol. The bad cholesterol is the low-density lipoproteins, and they attach to the sides of the vessel walls. This is what causes plaque buildup leading to reduced blood flow to organs and possibly causing a heart attack or stroke.

What causes high cholesterol?

Having elevated cholesterol is mainly due to an unbalanced diet. High fatty foods including sugars can contribute to elevated cholesterols. High processed foods usually add excess sugar making your triglycerides high and reduce the HDL’s. Eating fatty, greasy foods can affect the entire lipid panel but largely affect the LDL’s and total cholesterol due to the excess of trans and saturated fats.