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Lipoproteins
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Cholesterol
travels in the blood in packages called lipoproteins. Just like oil and water,
cholesterol, which is fatty, and blood, which is watery, do not mix. In order
to be able to travel in the bloodstream, the cholesterol made in the liver is
combined with protein, making a lipoprotein. This lipoprotein then carries the
cholesterol through the bloodstream.
There are
specific kinds of lipoproteins that contain cholesterol in your blood, and each
affects your heart disease risk in a different way.
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Low density lipoproteins (LDL): the "bad"
cholesterol. LDL carry most of the cholesterol in the blood, and the
cholesterol from LDL is the main source of damaging buildup and blockage in the
arteries. Thus, the more LDL-cholesterol you have in your blood, the greater
your risk of heart disease. If you have heart disease or are at high risk for
developing it and your LDL is 100 mg/dLor higher, your cholesterol may well be
too high for you.
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High density lipoproteins (HDL): the "good"
cholesterol. HDL carry cholesterol in the blood from other parts of the body
back to the liver, which leads to its removal from the body. So HDL help keep
cholesterol from building up in the walls of the arteries. If your level of
HDL-cholesterol is below 40 mg/dL, you are at substantially higher risk for
heart disease. The higher your HDL-cholesterol, the better. The average
HDL-cholesterol for men is about 45 mg/dL, and for women it is about 55 mg/dL.
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