To find out if cholesterol is high, a blood test should be done in the laboratory, and if the result is high, higher than 200 mg / dl, it is important to see a doctor to see if it is necessary to take medicine, make changes in diet and / or increase the practice of physical exercise. However, if there is a history in the high cholesterol family, it is necessary to have a blood test once a year from the age of 20 to diagnose the problem early.
Generally, high cholesterol does not cause symptoms, however, symptoms of high cholesterol may appear when the values are very high, through small elevations in the skin, called xanthomas.
Cholesterol Testing
The best way to identify high cholesterol is through a 12-hour fasting blood test, which tells you how much total cholesterol and all types of fat in your blood are LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), and triglycerides.
But another quicker way to know if your cholesterol is high is to get a quick test with only one drop of blood from your finger, which can be done at some pharmacies, such as the diabetic blood glucose test, where the results come out in a few minutes, however, there is still no such test in Brazil.
However, this test is not a substitute for laboratory testing, but its outcome may be an alert to seek medical advice and should only be used for screening or follow-up of people who already know that they are diagnosed with high cholesterol but want to routine follow-up more frequently.
So, here are the ideal cholesterol values for: Cholesterol reference values. However, people with diabetes should keep cholesterol levels even lower below these reference values to avoid heart complications.
What to do to ensure the correct exam result
Before taking the blood test, you should:
- Fasting for 12 hours. So to take the exam at 8:00 in the morning it is important to make the last meal at most at 8 in the evening.
- Avoid drinking alcohol in the 3 days prior to the blood test;
- Avoid practicing intense physical activities such as jogging or prolonged workouts in the previous 24 hours.
In addition, in the two weeks prior to the examination, it is important to continue feeding normally without dieting or overkill, so that the result reflects your actual cholesterol levels.
Such care should also be respected in the case of the rapid test in the pharmacy, so that the result is closer to the actual.
What to do when your cholesterol is high
When the blood test results show that the cholesterol is high, the doctor will evaluate the need to start the medication according to the research of other associated risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, family history of dyslipidemia. If they are not present, initially, the patient is advised about diet and physical activity and, after 3 months, it should be reassessed, where it will be decided on the beginning or not of medications. Here are some examples of cholesterol remedies.
To help with cholesterol control you should have a balanced diet and practice physical activity regularly. It is also necessary to avoid ingesting processed foods, red meats and sausages, such as sausage, sausage and ham, which are rich in saturated and trans fats.
Another strategy to lower high cholesterol is to eat more fiber by ingesting more fruits, raw vegetables, leafy vegetables like lettuce and cabbage, whole grain products such as oats, flaxseed and chia.
Here's how your diet should be: cholesterol-lowering diet.
