Blood Cholesterol Testing
understanding your personal health and lifestyle
Cholesterol is a soft, waxy substance found among the fats (lipids) in the bloodstream and in the cells of your body. Routine cholesterol monitoring is important for maintaining a healthy body, because cholesterol helps form cell membranes and some hormones, with the majority of cholesterol being used by the liver to produce bile salts - essential for the digestion of fats.
Too much cholesterol in the blood is a major risk for coronary heart disease (which leads to heart attacks) and strokes.
Cholesterol and other fats can’t dissolve in blood. They have to be carried out of the cells by special carriers of lipids and proteins called lipoproteins.
The two major lipoproteins and the ones to be concerned about are:
- Low density lipoprotein (LDL) ‘bad cholesterol’
- High density lipoprotein (HDL) ‘good cholesterol’
When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as Atherosclerosis.
If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, a heart attack or stroke can result.
To help prevent this from happening we also have HDL‘s. This is often called "good cholesterol’’, because its thought to actually remove excess cholesterol from Atherosclerotic plaques, reducing the chances of a heart attack or stroke.
With ‘Coronary heart disease being the number 1 cause of death in the UK’ (British heart foundation, 2007), regular monitoring of cholesterol levels are vital.
In-order for us to obtain your specific, accurate cholesterol values, we will test 4 Elements of your blood.
- Total Cholesterol levels
- Low density lipoprotein levels
- High density lipoprotein levels
- Triglyceride levels
Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood. They are a major source of energy and the most common type of fat in your body.
When you eat, your body uses the calories it needs for quick energy. Any extra calories are turned into triglycerides and stored in fat cells to be used later. The excess calories are stored as fat regardless of what kind of food you eat-fat, carbohydrate, or protein. If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, you may have high triglycerides.
And an excess of triglycerides within your blood plasma can cause hypertriglyceridemia. It’s linked to the occurrence of coronary artery disease in some people. Elevated triglycerides may also be a consequence of other diseases, such as untreated diabetes.
*In order to achieve true measurements the triglyceride test can only be made after an overnight food and alcohol fast
For the cholesterol and triglyceride tests, all it takes is a small finger stick blood sample (similar to a pin prick), this is then applied to a cholesterol machine (CardioChek) which will provide fast accurate results.
(Food and Drug Administration approved)
*Its important that regular checks are carried out, in-order to reduce the risk of future health problems.
Prices
Full Lifestyle Health Check (90 Minutes) £70.00
Body Stat Analysis (10 Minutes) £10.00
