World of Health

A routine blood test can reveal a blood cholesterol that is too high even if the individual is mostly in good shape, and is without pain.

However, hygienodietetiques rules should be applied in order to minimise any risk of cardiovascular incident.

What is the role of cholesterol?

This molecule composed of 27 carbon atoms is one of the elements, which form the membranes of our cells. Indeed, it fits between certain molecules ensuring membrane permeability of the cell and exchanges outwards.

Cholesterol also allows the development of hormones (especially sex hormones).
His latest role is to facilitate digestion because it is processed by the liver bile acids.

What are the consequences of excessive cholesterol?

The risk of cardiovascular disease increases in proportion to the increase in blood cholesterol.

When fats circulating in too large quantities in the blood, they are deposited on the walls of arteries and ultimately develop deposits of fat. The plates of fat will begin to thicken gradually the bloodstream.

What are the symptoms?

Only the blood test can detect an excess of cholesterol. However, if no action is taken in cases of coronary problems, chest pain may occur after several years: the pain of angina.

The blood circulating evil, the heart is deprived of oxygen, which causes pain first effort and then pain at rest.

How to detect cholesterol?
Cholesterol is largely manufactured by the body, only one third comes from food.

What are LADLE and HAL?

The cholesterol, belonging to the family of fats, is totally insoluble in the blood. He therefore needs to move carriers: these lipoproteins. The latter are classified according to their density:

– HAL (high density lipoprotein) with a protective role because it contributes to the elimination of cholesterol. It is better known as the “good cholesterol”.

– LDL (low density lipoprotein) or “bad cholesterol” is deposited on the walls of arteries and can lead to atherosclerosis.

How to decipher the blood test?

An increase in LDL and a decrease in HDL are related to a significant risk of cardiovascular disease.
Below are the values of desirable fats in the blood:

– Total cholesterol <2 g / l
– LDL <1.3 g / l — HDL (male)> 0.45 g / l
– HDL (Female)> 0.55 g / l

To fight against excessive cholesterol, dietary measures will be applied first and then, if they prove insufficient after 2 months, drug treatment will be prescribed.

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Very low calorie diets are far more effective at tackling obesity than conventional diets, potentially putting an end to losing battles among drastically overweight Britons.  That is the conclusion of a recent year-long trial amongst Britons.

Statistics show that more than one in five women in the UK are overweight, whilst one in six men have a body mass index (BMI) of over 30.  A healthy weight BMI should be between 20 and 25.

In a 12 month study, adult men and women with a BMI at or above 35 were entered into a clinical trial of different diet interventions with the aim of achieving a five per cent weight loss. An initial test was comprised of eating 600 less calories per day than the recommended daily allowance for men/women. Those who failed to achieve the 5% weight loss were then put on either the low carbohydrate, high protein diet (LCHP) or a very low calorie diet (VLCD). The latter eating plan drastically cuts the amount of calories consumed by relying on a diet of milkshakes.

At the end of the year-long trial, the average weight loss for the Very Low Calorie Diet was 31 kilograms, compared to just four kilograms for the low carb/high protein diet, one of the country’s current fashionable eating fads.

The very low calorie programme, known as LighterLife, was also twice as successful as those who stuck with eating just 600 less calories per day, which reduced obese Brits’ weight by an average of 18kg. It also resulted in increased cardiovascular benefits and improvements in cholesterol.

The study was led by Professor Iain Broom, the director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Epidemiology at Robert Gordon University and a professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Aberdeen.Professor Broom said: “This shows how a very low calorie diet can provide excellent weight loss for obese people in both the short and long term, including those patients who have failed other dietary approaches.  The cholesterol benefits are also considerable, as are the lean body mass results which demonstrate that patients see the very same changes in their body composition as those on a conventional diet – there was no difference in the amount of lean body mass change, suggesting that cardiac muscle was not affected by VLCD therapy.”

The study supports what LighterLife seeks to achieve with every client who undertakes it, greater weight loss results and an immediate solution to the side effects of obesity such as high cholesterol and restricted movement. It demonstrates that for people living with obesity a very low calorie diet can be the solution they’ve been looking for.

For more information visit www.lighterlife.com

A new study has found that the benefits of moderate exercise are ruined if you regularly sit at your desk during work of spend hours in front of the television.

The study, which was published yesterday in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease by about 25%, as it reduces the ability of the body to burn fat and shuts off the bloodstream’s vital enzymes.

Additionally, the study found that for every extra hour a woman sat and watched television their risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes rose by about 26%, despite how much moderate exercise they also undertook throughout the day.

The report has spurred doctors to recognize the need for a campaign against such lifestyles claiming that that ‘muscular inactivity’ has become as large of a problem as lifestyles that do not involve exercise.

Vice-chairwoman of the National Obesity Forum Jane DeVille-Almond stated that employers need to become aware that there are many damaging effects to workers who have sedentary lifestyles.

DeVille-Almond continued to state that employees need to be conscious of this fact and schedule time for small exercises and breaks throughout the day, as part of a regular work programme.

She also stated that taking the time to perform simple exercises throughout the work day can help in ways, such as moving at least once per hour or standing up while on the phone so that the pattern of sitting is broken.