Bad Cholesterol - Its Effects And Treatment

By Author: Anthony Delar
Total Articles: 2
Comment this article

Cholesterol is a wax like substance that is naturally present in cell walls or membranes in every part of your body including your brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines and heart. Cholesterol is required to build and maintain membranes, produce sex and steroid hormones; Vitamin D and the bile juice that help digest food. It is a lipid, which is produced from the fat present in the food that we eat and in the liver. A little amount of cholesterol is present in your body, and bit more is required keeping your body healthy. It is carried through the bloodstream with the help of lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are of two types, which are low density lipoproteins and high density lipoproteins.

The low density lipoproteins (LDL) carry out the function of carrying around the cholesterol in your bloodstream for the cells to use it. But if the level of low density lipoproteins increases in the blood, it can cause hardening of your arteries. So a person who is suffering from high cholesterol has higher levels of low density lipoproteins. High density lipoproteins (HDL), on the other hand, are good for your health ...
... as they take away the extra amounts of LDL from the blood to the liver. The low density lipoproteins are then broken and excreted from your body. You can suffer from high cholesterol because of either hereditary or environmental factors.

Cholesterol levels are known to run in families, and if you have acquired high levels of cholesterol in your genes, it is known as family hypercholesterolemia (FH). You can also develop higher levels of cholesterol in your bloodstream by consuming food that is high in fat content, such as cakes, pastries, meat and dairy products. High cholesterol is also connected to health conditions such as diabetes, kidney diseases, reduced metabolism due to thyroid problems and alcohol abuse. As a result of high cholesterol, you are likely to suffer from health conditions such as atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Cardiovascular diseases can be of different types, such as narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to your lower limbs can cause leg pain while walking or running. It can cause stroke, angina, heart attack or reduced heart function as well.

It is important to treat high cholesterol on time, in order to avoid such severe consequences of the condition. Simvastatin is one of the most popular treatments available for high cholesterol. This pill belongs to the group of medicines known as statins, which help in lowering the levels of LDL. The pill works by preventing your liver from producing too much of the low density lipoproteins. As the levels of low density lipoproteins decrease in the liver, it absorbs the LDL from your blood, in turn reducing the levels of cholesterol and controlling the condition. You can buy Simvastatin in the dosage strengths of 5 mg, 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg and 80 mg, of which doctors usually prescribe the 20 mg or 40 mg dosages. You need to take the pill every night before going to bed, as your liver produces the maximum amount of cholesterol during night time.