Health Equations |

A PATIENT BULLETIN January 2004

CHOLESTEROL IS GOOD TOO

Enough cholesterol is essential in your tissues because all hormones - including your sex hormones - are made from cholesterol. Enough cholesterol is also essential in your tissues because cholesterol is a very necessary anti-inflammatory agent.

Inflammation occurs in your tissues daily. Ordinary daily activity causes minor injuries in tissues. Your bodies' inflammatory response 'mops up' this worn-out tissue, just as it does when you have an actual injury. Cholesterol's job in your tissues is to stop the inflammatory response once its job is done.

The inflammatory response is also responsible for destroying organisms, such as viruses and bacteria, that can make you ill. In fact it is your inflammatory response to a virus, not the virus itself, that causes all the symptoms of a flu - from aches and chills to a runny nose and nausea.

It has been known for a long time that auto-immune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and Crohn's disease are the result of inflammation run amok. Evidence is mounting that will likely add heart disease, stroke and diabetes to this list. Further, anti-inflammatory medications are now being tried in the prevention and treatment of polyps, many cancers and Alzheimer's.

It has also been known for a long time that the lower your cholesterol the more likely you are to die sooner of any disease. Now we know why. Cholesterol stops the necessary inflammatory response from running amok. Remember, it is the inflammatory response that causes the symptoms...and the disease.

A healthy total cholesterol is not lower than 170 and a healthy LDL/HDL cholesterol ratio is not lower than 1.8. These levels ensure enough cholesterol to prevent your inflammatory response once its job is done.

The Health Equations Blood Test Evaluation measures your Tissue Cholesterol. The Evaluation also tells you how to get and keep your Tissue Cholesterol in a healthy range.

Comments, questions, discussions welcome...

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