Everyone has to be careful about the level of cholesterol they have in their blood. An overall optimal value, adding LDL and HDL cholesterol, is 200 mg per 100 ml of blood. Specifically, LDL cholesterol should not exceed 80 mg, while HDL can go up to 120 mg. It is clear that these parameters change from subject to subject.
For example, due attention increases for those who have had cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack and stroke. These diseases are still the leading cause of death in Italy. 35.8% of all annual deaths result from problems related to the heart and blood vessels. Fortunately, there is also a large chunk of the population that thwarts the disease. These people must respect an even stricter lifestyle than normal if they want to significantly reduce the risk of the disease returning.
Be careful because bad cholesterol should not exceed this value after cardiovascular disease
People who don’t want to risk a heart attack or stroke need to keep their cholesterol levels even lower than normally acceptable. For them, an optimal LDL cholesterol value is less than 70mg per 100ml. So be careful because bad cholesterol should not exceed this value after cardiovascular disease. To say this are studies published on the pages of the Veronesi Foundation.
As for heart attack, clogged arteries are one of the main causes. The obstruction is caused by atherosclerotic plaques, consisting mainly of heaps of triglycerides and cholesterol, which make it more difficult for blood to pass through. For this reason, by reducing cholesterol levels we also reduce the risk of heart attack.
The same goes for stroke. Studies show that reducing LDL cholesterol below 70 mg reduces the risk of the problem returning. In both cases (both heart attack and stroke), it seems that a really ideal level to avoid new complications is around 55 mg.
A double therapy to prevent the disease from recurring
The first thing to do to further lower bad cholesterol levels would be to pay more attention to nutrition. Consuming healthy, low-fat foods is already an important first step towards prevention. In recent years, against atherosclerotic plaques, the most used medical therapy is that which uses statins. However, recent studies have revealed that combining statins with the use of ezetimibe, a drug used against hypercholesterolemia, is an even more successful strategy. The combined action of the two drugs would seem to give excellent results, especially for secondary prevention (the one done by those who have already thwarted the disease). Before using any type of drug, however, you must consult your doctor.
Deepening
Not only atherosclerosis and heart disease but also neurodegenerative diseases could be reduced by solving this common problem.