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Do
you know your number?
For
a random total cholesterol screen level you do not need to be fasting.
Cholesterol is a
necessary substance in your body from your first day of life. Experts
recommend a cholesterol level below 200 for good health. Between 200 and 239
is borderline and above 240 is dangerous. When associated with at least two
risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, previous heart disease
or stroke, excess weight and being a smoker, it increases the incidence of
having coronary artery disease and heart attacks.
In the United States and Canada, the average adult's cholesterol level is
210-220. Elsewhere around the world it's about 150 and people get much less
coronary artery disease. It has become more of a threat to North Americans
than to most other populations because a major cause of increased
cholesterol is saturated fat, and other populations don't eat the amount of
saturated fat that we do.
Changing your diet is only one way of reducing your cholesterol level, but
it is an important one. Awareness of what your levels are is the first step
you must take.
According to the National Institute of Health, more than half of the people
in this country have cholesterol levels that put them into a moderate to
high risk of developing heart attacks. However, for each percentage drop in
cholesterol, the risk of having a heart attack drops by 2-3%. |
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