High levels of cholesterol contribute to heart failure

Stop for a moment, especially if you’re about to take a big bite of chocolate cake, and think about what happens to your kitchen drain pipes when you pour meat grease or chicken fat down the sink. Over time, this sludge builds up in the pipes, causing them to drain slower or blocking them completely. The same thing can happen to our blood vessels when they are exposed to high levels of cholesterol. LDL slowly builds up in artery walls, causing a thick plaque that can narrow arteries, restrict blood flow, and lead to blood clots. A blocked blood vessel in the brain can trigger a stroke. If the coronary arteries of the heart become blocked, a heart attack occurs. Heart attack is a major risk factor for heart failure, a condition in which damaged or weakened heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen. But a new study shows that high levels of cholesterol may significantly raise the risk of heart failure, even for people who never have a heart attack. Share and Enjoy:

Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels may lower risk of prostate cancer

Men who keep their cholesterol levels in check may decrease their chances of developing prostate cancer, in addition to keeping their heart healthy, as science has already shown. In fact, two recent studies indicate that maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol may be a good form of cancer prevention. In one study, results showed that men who retained healthy levels of cholesterol in the range below 200 actually cut their risk of developing high-risk prostate tumors by more than 50 percent in comparison to men with high ranging cholesterol levels. In the second study, findings showed that men with high levels of good (HDL) cholesterol were slightly less likely to develop prostate cancer in any form, compared to men with very low HDL cholesterol levels. The studies were recently published in the journal of the American Association for Cancer Research called Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention. Both studies support prior research indicating that by limiting fats in the bloodstream, the risk of cancer can be lowered. Share and Enjoy:

Excess weight gain may increase risk of prostate cancer

We are all aware of the plethora of complications that can arise from packing on excess pounds, the most common being high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes. Obesity also results in an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. In females, there is up to a threefold increase in the incidence of breast, cervical and ovarian cancer, while the risk of endometrial cancer is up to seven times higher. For men, there is an increased incidence of colon cancer and, according to a new study—prostate cancer, especially for white men who gained excess weight in young adulthood. To find out more about the relationship between weight and prostate cancer, researchers at the University of Hawaii collected and analyzed on nearly 84,000 men of different ethnic groups; African-Americans, Japanese, Latinos, Native Hawaiians and Caucasians, all of whom had participated in a long-term study called the Multiethnic Cohort. Overall, more than 5,500 were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Share and Enjoy: