Some years ago the doctor who edited a health column for a New York newspaper died, but the column went on and on. One day there appeared, among the usual polite requests for medical advice, a letter from a vey indignant female. “I happen to know that the doctor passed away sometime ago”, she wrote, “yet you continue to receive and answer questions addressed to him. I want to know just how can you do this.”

            The published answers: “One knock means NO, two knocks mean YES.”

–           Contributed by Jeanne M. Ross

Reader’s Digest, December 1964

           

            Uh_Uh: Really? Then. . . knock, knock . . .

            Who’s there?

            CHOLESTEROL

            Cholesterol, who?

            Cholesterol, the Chief Culprit in heart disease. The white, powdery, fatty substance found in the blood and tissues of the body and also in foods such as eggs, cream and meat…… the Villain…the. . . . . .

            Cool, man, cool. Don’t over react. Cholesterol is important in metabolism, right? And it is present in every call of the body. Particularly rich in it are the brain, spinal cord and nerves. It makes up 10% of the brain’s weight. The commonest gallstones are largely cholesterol. It is a raw material used by the body for production of vitamin D, sex hormones and bile salts. Tell you what, even if cholesterol is completely eliminated from the diet, the substance continues to circulate in the blood – manufactured mainly by the liver (Ratcluff, 2004). Thus, its very omnipresence suggests that cholesterol is not completely villainous.

            On the other hand, when it accumulates in the walls of arteries, specifically the coronary arteries that nourish the heart, it becomes the enemy of the human race. As deposits grow, the artery wall roughens, and blood clots often form at the point of injury. Finally, the artery may be blocked completely. When this happens in the heart arteries, there is a heart attack. When it occurs in the brain, there is apoplexy.

            Researches revealed that in countries where large amounts of animal fats were consumed, blood cholesterol levels where high and so heart – disease deaths.

            Although the role of cholesterol may be in question, there is agreement that fats in general do play a role as a causative factor in heart disease. Hence,, a reduction of fats and of calorie intake would at least result in a loss of weight, and overweight is known to predispose to heart trouble.

            In the journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Master stated that there are many factors other that diet that play a role in coronary disease such as emotion and behavior patterns, lack of physical exercise, excessive smoking, heredity and sex.

            With this note, what do you say? Wanna change your lifestyle? During my time, one autopsy study of 300 people showed cholesterol deposits in the arteries of all over the age of 7. Scared? Shocked! Believe you me. . . Knock, KNOCK!!!

 

By: Larah May dela Rosa | Nurse II | DepEd Bataan