Cholesterol Management Health Center

Cholesterol Health Check

Do you have high cholesterol, also known as hypercholesterolemia? Abnormal cholesterol levels such as high LDL cholesterol or low HDL cholesterol are a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. An unhealthy diet can cause high cholesterol. Sometimes high cholesterol runs in families. A low-cholesterol diet can help improve cholesterol levels. If the low-cholesterol diet does not work to lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol, your doctor may prescribe medications.

Cholesterol-Lowering Foods

Tasty, functional foods help you lower cholesterol naturally.

By R. Morgan Griffin
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Do you want a diet to lower cholesterol? We all know that butter, ice cream, and fatty meats raise cholesterol, but do you know which foods make up a low-cholesterol diet? Find out here.

Here's some good news. To lower your cholesterol, you can actually eat more of certain foods. A handful of some "functional foods" have been shown to make a big impact on your cholesterol levels. They're also much tastier than a pill chased with a glass of water.

"These foods may not be magic, but they're close to it," says Ruth Frechman, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

Researchers have found that some foods -- such as fatty fish, walnuts, oatmeal, and oat bran, and foods fortified with plant sterols or stanols -- can help control your cholesterol. Some studies have shown that a diet combining these "superfoods" may work as well as some cholesterol-lowering medicines to reduce your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels.

How strong is the evidence? The FDA has reviewed the research on each of these foods, and given them the status of a "health claim" for managing cholesterol.

This is great news for the 105 million adults in the U.S. with high cholesterol. Making good food choices is an easy way of improving your health. It also puts less strain on your pocketbook. A trip to the grocery store is bound to be cheaper than a trip to the pharmacy. Also, many people can't handle the side effects from cholesterol drugs. Focusing on diet gives us all a new option.

Getting Started on a Low-Cholesterol Diet

Managing high cholesterol isn't a simple do-it-yourself project. You need to work with your health care provider. And while changing your diet may help a lot, many people still need drugs to reduce their risk of heart disease.

Also, remember that these foods aren't cure-alls. A handful of walnuts or a bowl of oatmeal won't make you invincible. It won't give you a free pass to eat all the high-fat foods you want. To benefit, you still must eat low-fat foods, watch your weight, and get more exercise.

"Eating a healthy diet is not just about eating a few special foods," says Suzanne Farrell, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "There's a bigger picture. You need to practice moderation, eat a variety of foods, and get enough physical activity."

Osteoarthritis Exercises

By: Vert Mooney, MD

While it may seem paradoxical, for those with so much osteoarthritis pain that it hurts to move, exercise is actually beneficial and will help manage the pain.

Exercise helps manage osteoarthritis pain in a number of specific ways, including:

• Flexibility and stretching exercises can expand or preserve the range of motion and elasticity in affected joints and thus relieve the stiffness that leads to pain
• A consistent low impact aerobic exercise program can aid in controlling weight, which in turn lessens impact and stress on the joints
• Repeated motion of the joint is necessary to maintain normal joint health
• Aerobic exercise that increases heart rate produces endorphins, the body’s natural pain relieving hormone, which in turn lessens the pain associated with osteoarthritis
• Maintaining normal muscle strength is necessary to control impact to the joints. Good muscle strength acts like shock absorbers around the joints. This is true for the spine as well as for other joints.

• The cartilage damage in joints affected by osteoarthritis (also referred to as spinal arthritis or degenerative arthritis), and the attendant inflammation, can generate an extreme amount of pain, making everyday movement difficult. Understandably, the motivation and energy to exercise when suffering osteoarthritis pain can be elusive, and many osteoarthritis sufferers avoid any unnecessary movement that might jar joints.

  Pain management to make exercise tolerable

  For many, it is necessary to first address the pain undertaking exercise in order to make movement more tolerable. Gradual joint motion through increasing range at first in an unloaded manner will tend to reduce the pain of normal activity.

  The variety of options available to control pain is extensive, including:

• Heat therapy prior to exercise to warm up stiff muscles and joints and make them more easy to stretch
• Ice therapy or cold packs after exercise to cool swollen joints
• Over-the-counter medications, such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. ibuprofen), to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation
• Prescription anti-inflammatories and pain medications, including corticosteroids, COX-2 inhibitors, to treat both acute and chronic pain
• Elastic supports, sometimes worn for several hours, are often effective.