Cholesterol is a type of lipid, which are fatty substances in your blood. Lipids play an essential role in keeping cells healthy and working, and in making vital hormones, such as testosterone and oestrogen.
However too much cholesterol in your blood (known as hypercholesterolaemia) can negatively affect your health, as it can increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Having high cholesterol is mostly caused by lifestyle factors like eating too many fatty foods and or not getting enough exercise. There can be other causes not related to lifestyle that can increase your risk of high cholesterol. These include a family history of high cholesterol, a thyroid condition, and diabetes.
The lipid blood test we offer at The Slimming Clinic gives you a full breakdown of your cholesterol status, including your total cholesterol, your good (HDL) and bad (non-HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. The ratio of these different fatty substances can help in assessing your risk of cardiovascular disease.
At The Slimming Clinic we think it is important to have your lipid levels checked as you work to improve your health and wellbeing.
If you are found to have high cholesterol levels, our team of clinicians will be able to explain the results to you and give you more information about lifestyle changes you can make to decrease your cholesterol levels.