How To Lower Ldl Levels

By Author: Dave Jordan
Total Articles: 46
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LDL or Low Density Lipoprotein is one of the most important risk factors with respect to heart disease. However, it is definitely unlike most other risk factors of heart disease as it can be managed or lowered. In order to ensure a healthy heart, the LDL levels should be definitely below 160mg/dL. However, if an individual is also having other associated risk factors, then the medical practitioners generally want this number to be lowered even further.

Most medical practitioners generally use a combined approach when targeting to lower LDL levels in their patients. The treatment approach that is generally adopted by most of medical practitioners today is a combination of therapeutic agents and modification in the lifestyle of an individual. It has also been suggested and proven that individuals can sufficiently lower their cardiovascular risk if they concentrate on aggressively lowering their LDL levels while simultaneously focusing on increasing their HDL, or high density lipoprotein levels.

There are several proven ways to lower LDL levels and to raise the HDL levels in an individual. The first and foremost way ...
... that has been proven is administration of a statin. A statin at its lowest dose has been shown to lower the LDL levels by almost 10 percent. However, at its highest dose, this lowering can be achieved upto the extent of 55 percent. However some of people may experience severe side effects upon administration of statins including muscle pain and weakness, memory loss, liver and kidney damage and in severe cases, a condition known as Rhabdomyolysis which is a breakdown of muscle tissue. In addition to lowering the LDL levels, statins also play a role in raising the HDL levels. There are several other cholesterol lowering medications as well that can also be prescribed in combination with statins to produce a synergistic effect.

Another type of drug that can be used to target lowering of cholesterol is Ezetemibe. It can be categorized as a cholesterol absorption inhibitor. This is particularly beneficial in those people who are unable to take statins because of their side effects or even in those individuals where statin monotherapy is not able to produce the desired cholesterol lowering effects. There have been several clinical studies that categorically endorse the clinical efficacy of Ezetimibe in monotherapy as well as in combination therapy. The agent has been shown to lower LDL levels by as much as 15 to 20 percent.

Bile Acid Sequestrants is another category of therapeutic agents that can be extremely helpful in decreasing LDL by around 10 to 20 percent. In combination with statins, the cholesterol lowering effect of these agents is dramatically high. Some of the examples of these agents include colestipol, cholestyramine, colesevelam, etc. These drugs have been proven to be beneficial for diabetics as they also contribute towards lowering of the raised blood glucose levels. Other agents that have also been found to be effective in cholesterol management include Nicotinic acid or Niacin and Fibrates.

Lifestyle changes have been shown to also significantly help lower LDL cholesterol and reduce the associated risk factors of high LDL levels. One of the very important lifestyle related factors is maintaining an ideal body weight. Exercise can also prove to be extremely beneficial in raising HDL. Even a small amount of workouts and physical exercise can be extremely beneficial in this respect. There are also dietary modifications that can be very helpful such as avoiding or at least limiting the intake of saturated fats. Also, it is important to avoid the consumption of trans fats. In fact, one should limit Trans fats to less than 1 per cent of total calories consumed each day. Additionally, there are several nutritional supplements also that can be of great help such as garlic, guggulipid, fish oils, plant sterols, flax seed, etc.

Lowering LDL levels is important, in fact CRUCIAL for good health. Follow the tips above and make sure your LDL levels remain under control and you and your heart will live a long and healthy life.

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