“What are the best ways to control high cholesterol?”
My father is suffering from high cholesterol. It runs on his side of the family. What are the best ways he can control high cholesterol levels? He is 78 and otherwise in relatively good shape.
2 Answers
I would suggest for him to do a special CT scan named EBCT, which calculates calcium scores on the coronary vessels also ultrasound of carotides. If they are negative, I would not worry about cholesterol if not diabetic, hypertensive, or a smoker, but if calcium score is even 1%, he will need to be started on statin.
There are 2 ways to control blood cholesterol: a low cholesterol diet (dairy products, red meat, and egg yolk, shell fish including shrimp), and medications. There are guidelines to follow when it comes to using cholesterol medicines depending on the cholesterol levels and if there are comorbidity factors like diabetes mellitus, hypertension in these situations, you need to bring the bad cholesterol (LDL) to less than 100. If the patient has a heart condition, his LDL must be brought to less than 85. However, in a completely healthy person, it's still advised to keep LDL less than 130. Patients are also advised to keep the good cholesterol above 39 and the triglyceride less than 150.
