Cholesterol: The Good, the Bad, How to Know the Difference and What to Do About It

There's a lot of hype in the media about cholesterol -- how it increases your risk for heart disease, what foods you should eat and avoid to keep it in check and the latest medications to treat high cholesterol levels. No doubt, cholesterol is an important thing to track. You need to know some basic facts surrounding the issue to ensure you take appropriate care of yourself and your family members. And don't forget: The 2007 LifeSteps personal scorecard requires you to have received a cholesterol screening and know your current levels to earn discount points.

What is high cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a fat your body uses for many functions, including making new cells. While it serves a vital purpose, high cholesterol levels can put you at risk for heart attack and stroke.

When you have your cholesterol checked at the doctor, they'll talk about a few different numbers: your total cholesterol, your LDL, and your HDL. LDL -- or low-density lipoproteins -- is known as the "bad" cholesterol because too much of it can clog your arteries. On the other hand, HDL -- or high-density lipoproteins -- is referred to as the "good" cholesterol because it clears your blood of the "bad" cholesterol, thus preventing it from clogging your arteries. Therefore, the lower your LDL, the better, and the higher your HDL, the better.

The following guidelines can help you and your doctor assess your risk of heart attack or stroke:

What causes high cholesterol?
In many cases, high cholesterol runs in families. Because it produces no symptoms on its own, it's especially critical to have your doctor check your cholesterol levels at least once every five years. Even people who lead healthy, active lifestyles can have high cholesterol simply due to genetics. Additionally, certain diseases -- such as low thyroid and inherited lipid disorders -- can also raise cholesterol.

However, lifestyle does play a role -- both in causing high cholesterol and treating it. For example:

• Your diet. Eating too much saturated fat can cause high cholesterol. Saturated fat come from animal foods such as beef, pork, veal, milk, eggs, butter, and cheese. Many packaged foods contain saturated fat such as coconut oil, palm oil, or cocoa butter. You will also find saturated fat in stick margarine and vegetable shortening. Cookies, crackers, chips, and other snacks usually contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or trans fats, which can raise cholesterol.
  
• Your activity level. Lack of regular exercise may raise LDL and lower HDL.
  
• Your weight. Being overweight may raise triglycerides and lower HDL.
  
• Smoking. Cigarette smoking can lower HDL.
  (Source: Healthwise® Knowledgebase)

How is high cholesterol treated?
If you're diagnosed with high cholesterol, your doctor will recommend an appropriate treatment plan for you. Options may include one or more of the following:

• Lifestyle changes. You may be able to attain desirable cholesterol levels simply through a diet low in saturated fat, becoming more active, losing weight and/or quitting smoking.
  
• Medication. Your doctor may prescribe a cholesterol-lowering drug known as a statin. Common statins include Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor.
  (Source: Healthwise® Knowledgebase)

Tip: Keep in mind that through your American Standard benefit plan, co-payments for generic drugs are much lower than those for brand-name drugs. In June, the FDA approved a generic equivalent of Zocor, called Simvastatin. If your doctor recommends a statin for you or one of your dependent family members, you may want to ask whether Simvastatin is an appropriate medication for you.

Contact a Health Coach
If you have questions about your cholesterol levels or heart disease risk, contact a health coach. Health coaches are specially trained healthcare professionals, such as nurses, dietitians, and respiratory therapists, available by phone, anytime, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at no charge to you.

Health coaches can support you in finding ways to lower your cholesterol. When appropriate, a health coach can also mail additional information, including videotapes, at no charge. To talk to a health coach, call 1-877-LIFE-123. You can also get information online at LifeSteps Online from the company portal at http://MyStandard or www.asdlifesteps.com from outside of work.

Personal health information provided to a LifeSteps health coach is protected by federal and state privacy laws and will not be disclosed to American Standard Companies except as authorized by law for administration of the company's group health plans.