Cholesterol Archive

It's never too late to strike out against a potentially devastating brain attack.

Like close cousins, heart disease and stroke share a common lineage. Both emerge from a mix of nature (genes), nurture (upbringing and environment), and personal choice (smoking, exercise, etc). For most of us, personal choice largely determines whether a stroke lies ahead. Guidelines on the prevention of stroke suggest that a healthy lifestyle can cut the risk of having one by 80%. No drug, device, or other intervention can come close to doing that.

People who develop yellow bumps on their eyelids often visit a dermatologist to get them removed. They may want to see a cardiologist as well.

Such a skin lesion is actually a cholesterol deposit known medically as xanthelasma (ZAN-thuh-LAZ-muh) — derived from the Greek word for yellow. (The plural is xanthelasmata. You can see what they look like at www.health.harvard.edu/166.) Xanthelasmata are strikingly similar to the cholesterol deposits that develop inside blood vessels and contribute to atherosclerosis. This raises the question of whether the eyelids might provide a diagnostic window into the heart.

Cholesterol is best known for its tendency to accumulate in the inner lining of arteries. In some people, though, it can also appear in small deposits in the skin. When these yellowish deposits form around the eyes, they are known as xanthelasma (pronounced ZAN-thuh-LAZ-muh; the plural form is xanthelasmata). As described in the March 2011 Harvard Heart Letter, the presence of a xanthelasma seems to signal that an individual is at increased risk of developing heart disease.

With permission from the Digital Journal of Ophthalmology, an online journal affiliated with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School, here is an image of what the deposits look like:

Q. What amount of psyllium should I take each day to lower cholesterol?

A. Psyllium (SILL-ee-um) is the main ingredient in many over-the-counter laxatives, such as Metamucil, Fiberall, and others. It can also lower harmful low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol by 5% to 10%.

High-density lipoproteins (HDL) protect the heart and arteries by removing cholesterol lodged in artery walls and riding through the bloodstream inside of low-density lipoproteins (LDL). Here's a novel way to amplify HDL's cholesterol-busting activity: Take some blood from a person. Extract the HDL. Use a process called delipidation to remove cholesterol and other fats (lipids) from the HDL. Then put the defatted HDL particles back into the bloodstream. This seems to turbocharge HDL and make it work even more aggressively against cholesterol.

In the first clinical trial of HDL delipidation in humans, the procedure was safe and effective. Treated HDL caused cholesterol-filled plaque to shrink more than did untreated HDL (Journal of the American College of Cardiology, June 15, 2010). The trial was too small and didn't last nearly long enough to see if this prevented future heart attacks or improved survival.

Nuts contain healthy unsaturated fats, protein, and important nutrients like potassium, and there is ample evidence that eating nuts regularly helps protect against heart disease.

Q. I keep reading that peanut butter is a healthy food. But it contains saturated fat and has more sodium than potassium. That doesn't sound healthy to me. Is peanut butter good for you?

A. The presence of saturated fat doesn't automatically kick a food into the "unhealthy" camp. Olive oil, wheat germ, and even tofu — all "healthy" foods — have some saturated fat. It's the whole package of nutrients, not just one or two, that determines how good a particular food is for health.

Excerpted from The Harvard Medical School Guide to Lowering Your Cholesterol

By Mason W. Freeman, M.D. with Christine Junge

Reprinted by permission of the McGraw-Hill Companies; © Copyright 2005 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All Rights Reserved.

Learn to manage your triglyceride levels to avoid having a higher risk of heart disease and stroke.