HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE HIGH CHOLESTEROL

In 2007 I was told I now had both high blood pressure high cholesterol. I already have been living with high blood pressure for many years but my cholesterol level was 252 and my Cardiologist prescribed statin drug.

I knew I was at increased risk when I was diagnosed with elevated cholesterol. It was frightening because I knew my risk for coronary artery disease had just gone up.

It also meant that I had more cholesterol in my blood than my body needed. Cholesterol is one of a group of fats (lipids) that serve either as material to build cells or as an energy source for our body.

Aging...

When we start to age, not to say young people do not have high blood pressure high cholesterol, knowing the different kinds of fats that makes up our total cholesterol within our blood is very important.

High levels of low density lipoproten (LDL - the bad cholesterol) worsen atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a build-up of fatty deposit on the inside of your arteries that narrows the vessels and slows down our blood flow. It begins to damage the inner lining of our artery walls.

Then there is HDL - the good cholesterol which is a high density lipoprotein that protect us against atherosclerosis.

I want you to go to your doctor and check to see if you are at a very high, moderate or low risk for having cholesterol.

Studies have indicated that there are clear health benefits if the levels of different types of cholesterol are kept at target levels. These levels keeping changing but the current recommendations by the Harvard Medical School of Family Health Guide are:

Cholesteral Levels

Very High Risk: You already have a history of heart disease, probably experience a heart attack, had some sort of heart procedure done such as angioplasty or a bypass.

At this risk level, the Harvard Medical School states most individuals are smokers, has a high triglycerides of over 200 and low HDL below 40.

High Risk: You also already have a history of heart disease and probably at risk for Diabetes, and narrowing of the arteries.

Moderately High Risk: Again you have a couple of risk factors for heart disease that create a 10% to 20% chance of having a heart attack in another couple of years. Visit www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/index.html#tools for information on heart attack risk calculator.

Moderate Risk: You have two or more risk factors for heart disease but your percentage is less than 10% for having a heart attack. Again check heart attack risk calculator for more information.

Low Risk: Having a reasonable LDL of less than 130 with no more than one risk factor for heart disease.

The first step in lowering your high blood pressure high cholesterol is to change your diet.

Drugs

As I mentioned my cardiologist prescribed a statin drug for me to take, but I wanted a chance to lower my cholesterol using an alternative. I had heard of individuals getting great results from using essential oils, which I used and then I reduced my consumption of eating eggs and cheese.

Statins are a group of similar medicines that are highly effective in lowering both total and LDL cholesterol and is credited in raising our HDL cholesterol.

These statins are generally free of side effects, but occasionally cause liver or muscle damage. But these same drugs have been known to prevent stroke and heart attack.

Niacin is a vitamin that is also effective in lowering total and LDL cholesterol and very effective in raising our HDL cholesterol.

Using essential oils as my alternative medication I was able to lower my cholesterol to 180 within a year.

Robert Kowalski and others have written books on cure of high blood pressure high cholesterol and Niacin is one of the alternative treatment.