Most people are aware of the importance of having a healthy blood sugar level, especially those with a family history of diabetes (someone in the family has diabetes mellitus).

But a lot of people are not aware that their blood cholesterol is equally important as it plays a role in the development of diabetes, heart attack, stroke, chronic kidney disease and disease of the blood vessels known as peripheral vascular disease. This is because a high blood cholesterol increases the risk of plaques (fatty deposits) building up within the tissue lining the lumen of the blood vessels (arteries) and these plaques can balloon out to narrow or block these vessels anywhere in the body, contributing to the disease conditions mentioned above.

While you can check your blood sugar at home with a portable medical device known as a glucometer, you can only get to know whether your blood cholesterol is high or normal by going to the hospital for a blood test in the lab.

If you are above 18 years, it is advised you check your blood cholesterol every 5 years; while men above 40 and women above 50 are advised to check theirs every 3 years. The doctor may recommend checking your blood cholesterol more often than the this recommended once every 3 or 5 years if your first test shows you have a higher than normal level (because a high level increases the risk of developing heart disease) and your medical history further indicates you have a high risk of heart disease (from family history of heart attack, stroke, diabetes to having lifestyle behaviours such as cigarette smoking and lack of physical exercise).

The blood cholesterol test is known as lipid profile in the hospital and is usually recommended for those presenting to a doctor for the first time with symptoms of diabetes mellitus. If you have not checked your blood cholesterol in the last 5 years, you can walk into any good hospital to see a doctor for this test. A complete blood cholesterol test (lipid profile) involves checking the level of 4 types of fats in your blood which are

Read more here https://www.kangpe.com/tip/view/219/Controlling-Your-Blood-Cholesterol-Level-Is-Very-Important?utm_source=nairaland&utm_campaign=tip_share&utm_medium=website&type=tip_share

forget cholesterol, it's bin prove otherwise.. no problem. cholesterol not bad .

Do you understand how cholesterol is formed in the body and how it affects the blood vessels in different parts of the body? Click on the link in my original post to read more to get educated on what you don't know about cholesterol and your health; patients have died following a sudden heart attack and at autopsy, we discovered that the blood vessels supplying their heart muscle tissue were blocked by blood clots that resulted from the rupture of the wall of the vessels due to fatty deposits caused by very high blood cholesterol. I'm a certified licensed medical doctor who trained at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and the University College Hospital Ibadan.