How to boost your 'good' cholesterol

Your cholesterol levels are an important measure of heart health. For HDL cholesterol, or "good" cholesterol, higher levels are better.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is known as the "good" cholesterol because it helps remove other forms of cholesterol from your bloodstream.

Tips to Keep Your Cholesterol in Check

Your body needs some cholesterol, but not too much.

A surplus can cause plaque to build up in your arteries and make it hard for blood to get to your heart. That can cause chest pain, called angina. If the blood supply is completely blocked, you will have a heart attack.

What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean

Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is a great way to keep your heart healthy. It can lower your chances of getting heart disease or having a stroke. But first, you have to know your cholesterol numbers.

High blood cholesterol levels

Cholesterol is a fat (also called a lipid) that your body needs to work properly. Too much bad cholesterol can increase your chance of getting heart disease, stroke, and other problems.

Control Your Cholesterol

If you’re reading this, you probably care about health and the role that cholesterol can play. That’s an important first step.

So, what is cholesterol? What does it do?

What You Should Know About High Blood Cholesterol

Approximately 13 percent of U.S. adults has high total cholesterol. Lowering cholesterol levels can slow down, reduce, or even stop plaque from building up in the walls of arteries and may decrease the chance of having a heart attack. Mainstays in treating high cholesterol include diet, weight loss, physical activity, and when necessary, drug treatment.

12 Common Side Effects of Cholesterol Drugs

If you’re taking medicine to lower your cholesterol, there may be times when it makes you feel less than your best. Like all medications, these drugs can cause side effects. But most of the time, the problems are mild. In many cases, they go away after you take the drug for a while.Some problems, though, can be severe.

High Cholesterol in Children: Management and Treatment

The best way to treat cholesterol in children is with a diet and exercise program that involves the entire family. If changes in diet and exercise do not have the desired effect, medicine might be considered for children older than eight.

Treatment of High Cholesterol in Children

Evidence suggests that children with high cholesterol are likely to have high cholesterol when they are adults. Concern about developing disease is greater if there is a family history of heart disease, since the evidence is strong that heart disease runs in families.