Cholesterol is a type of fat (lipid) made by the body. It’s essential for good health and is found in every cell in the body. However, a high cholesterol level in the blood (hypercholesterolaemia) is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Coronary Heart Disease is caused by blood vessels becoming narrowed with fatty deposits called plaques, which cholesterol contributes to. The narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the heart. This can result in angina (chest pain) or, if the vessel is blocked completely, a heart attack.

High cholesterol can also increase the risk of other conditions, depending on which blood vessels are narrowed or blocked. These include stroke if the blood supply to part of the brain is reduced. There is also a risk of peripheral vascular disease. This is caused by narrowed blood vessels in the limbs, particularly the legs. It may result in leg pain, ulcers, and infections.

Cholesterol is transported around the body in the blood attached to a protein. This fat-protein combination is called a lipoprotein. Lipoproteins can be high density (HDL), low density (LDL) or very low density (VLDL), depending on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

In order to estimate the risk of a person getting CHD, doctors look at the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL (”good” cholesterol), called the TC:HDL ratio. A lower ratio is desirable, indicating that the level of HDL is high.

Measuring cholesterol involves a simple blood test. A blood sample may be taken either by using a needle and a syringe, or by using a finger prick. This may be done at a GP’s surgery, at a hospital appointment, or as part of a health assessment examination.

For many years doctors have been assessing the role cholesterol plays in health by referring to the total cholesterol level.

A Total Cholesterol (TC) in excess on 5.5mmol/L is itself a risk factor for heart disease. But knowing your Total Cholesterol level is NOT enough.

To fully understand the effect of cholesterol has on your risk profile, you must also know the relationship between the Total Cholesterol and HDL Cholesterol. This is TC: HDL

An individual with a TC of 5.4mmol/l and HDL of 1.80mmol/l will have a TC:HDL ration of 3.0 which requires no attention. However, a person with a TC of 5.4mmol/l and HDL of 0.77mmol/l has a TC:HDL ratio of 7.0 which does require attention.

An HDL cholesterol level less than 1.0 mmo1/l is also considered a risk factor for the heart disease. Your aim is to decrease you ratio by increasing your HDL Cholesterol and decreasing your Total Cholesterol.

What is a good TC: HDL ratio?

Ideal Ratio:
Less than 3.5 - is associated with a less than half the average risk of developing heart disease.

Average Ratio:
3.5 - 5.0 - is associated with an average risk of developing heart disease - a 25% chance by the age of 60.

Marginal Ratio:
Between 4.5 and 9.6 - is associated with twice the average risk of development heart disease by the age of 60 - a 50% chance.

Dangerous Ratio:
Between 7.0 and 15.0 - is associated with tripled average risk for developing heart disease by the age of 60 years.

Anyone who has any cardiovascular disease, such as coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease (disease in the blood vessels that supply the limbs) or stroke, should have their cholesterol measured by a doctor.

Anyone, even children, with a family history of familial hypercholesterolaemia should have their cholesterol measured.

Anyone aged 35 or over should consider having their cholesterol measured if they have one or more of the following risk factors: family history of early heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking.

A healthy lifestyle - exercising on most days, eating a low fat diet, not smoking and drinking alcohol within the recommended limits - will help reduce your risk of coronary heart disease.

source: bupa

Riding the grueling Tour de France bike race takes strength, stamina — and perhaps a heart nearly 40 percent bigger than normal.

Researchers who examined the hearts of former Tour bikers found that the athletes’ hearts were from 20 to 40 percent larger than average, said Dr. Francois Carre of the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Rennes, France, speaking at a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.

The difference is attributable largely to rigorous training that expands the cyclists’ hearts. But researchers have not yet determined whether the athletes’ hearts were larger to begin with.

“They are a special breed,” said Dr. Richard Becker, a professor of medicine at Duke University and spokesman for the American Heart Association. Becker was not connected to Carre’s study.

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White coat hypertension is sometimes known as “white coat syndrome”. The term is used to describe people whose blood pressure is persistently high in the doctor’s clinic, but is normal at other times.

It can be detected by measuring the blood pressure over a period of 24 hours using a technique called ambulatory monitoring. This involves wearing a blood pressure monitor that can take readings while you are going about your normal daily activities, typically every 15 minutes.

People with white coat hypertension are not necessarily nervous or neurotic, and they may look and feel quite calm while in the doctor’s office. It is generally thought that they do not need to take medications for their blood pressure, and that they are at relatively low risk of heart disease and stroke.

It is, however, very important that they continue to have their blood pressure checked (by self-monitoring, for example) on a regular basis.

Source: A&D Instruments

We are constantly being advised that we should drink about 2 litres of water each day. But did you know that too much water can be bad for you.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

While dehydration is a common concern for exercisers, some experts think the public should be aware of the danger of drinking too much water. In some cases it can lead to a potentially fatal condition called HYPONATREMIA.

Hyponatremia is characterised by an abnormally low blood concentration of sodium. It is most often seen at extremely high-endurance events such as ultra-marathons.

The normal concentration of sodium in the blood plasma is 136-145 mM. Hyponatremia occurs when sodium falls below 130 mM. Plasma sodium levels of 125 mM or less are dangerous and can result in seizures and coma. Read more »

A SCHEME allowing commuters to pedal to work using unclaimed bicycles found by the police is being launched to improve fitness.

It is hoped the project in Inverness - the first of its kind in the UK - will be adopted in other towns and cities across Scotland.
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Commuters will be encouraged to ride to their offices after picking up the bikes at a city centre car park. The scheme is being launched on September 12 to coincide with the EU’s In Town Without My Car day.

One of the backers of the plan is the Inverness and Nairn Transport Forum, and a spokesman for the group said it was part of its attempt to get commuters to use alternative methods of travel.

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Researchers recommend that people who wish to maintain or lose weight avoid eating while watching TV, talking on the phone or listening to music. All these activities are capable of derailing even the best weight-loss efforts.

A recent study of healthy-weight women revealed that even restrained eaters consumed significantly more calories when they were distracted than when they were alone without outside stimuli.

Researchers from Hospital Hotel-Dieu in Paris, France recruited 41 women, ages 26 to 55, to eat lunch once a week under four different conditions in a controlled laboratory setting.

The conditions were eating alone without distraction, alone while listening to recorded instruction on how to focus on the taste of their food, and alone while listening to a tape of a detective story.

The participants ate lunch with three other women who were also participating in the study.

Despite reporting equal levels of hunger under all four conditions, the women ate considerably more calories while listening to the detective story.

In conclusion, researchers recommend that people who wish to maintain or lose weight avoid eating while watching TV, talking on the phone or listening to music. All these activities are capable of derailing even the best weight-loss efforts.

Kettler have just launched their latest range of fitness equipment that includes Tour Concept 1.0 software which is compatible with their Ergo Racer GT.

Tour Concept 1.0 is the first GPS-controlled training software for ergometers, cross-trainers and treadmills that have a compatible computer interface.

You can cycle your favourite training route or even a section of the Tour de France. No need to worry about the road conditions, wind or weather and all possible in the comfort of your own home!

You can record the GPS data on one of your training trips or plan a trip in interactive map system mode. Then cycle over the route you have planned using animated 3D maps, in the comfort of your own living room.

All the training data can be recorded for later reporting and analysis.

Now you can have an outdoor experience in the comfort of your own home.

Diabetics could be giving up vital home blood sugar checks because they believe they are of no use, says a researcher.

Psychologist Dr Elizabeth Peel interviewed type 2 diabetes patients, and found that many were confused over what to do with the results.

Writing in the British Medical Journal, she said that some doctors simply ignored detailed records kept by diabetics, compounding the problem.

Charity Diabetes UK called for more support for patients.

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