News tagged with cholesterol

Commonly used vitamin could help produce 'good' cholesterol, researchers find

(Medical Xpress) -- Maintaining healthy cholesterol levels can keep heart disease, heart attack and stroke away. And a commonly used vitamin could help by increasing production of “good” cholesterol in the body, ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Low levels of lipid antibodies increase complications following heart attack

Coronary patients with low levels of an immune system antibody called anti-PC, which neutralises parts of the "bad" cholesterol, run a greater risk of suffering complications following an acute cardiac episode and thus of ...

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Websites advertising cholesterol-lowering drugs of poor quality

A new study published in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology & Drug Safety reveals that internet sites selling prescription statins directly to consumers are widespread, and that most websites advertising statins for sale t ...

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Feb 02, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Obesity and heart disease: Is the health of your fat a measure of risk?

Dr. Fiona McGillicuddy from the UCD Conway Institute wins the first award under the SFI-HRB Wellcome Trust Biomedical Partnership. She will investigate the links between obesity, 'good cholesterol', diet and coronary artery ...

Medicine & Health / Research

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Decaffeinated coffee preserves memory function by improving brain energy metabolism

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have discovered that decaffeinated coffee may improve brain energy metabolism associated with type 2 diabetes. This brain dysfunction is a known risk factor for dementia and ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Overweight mothers who smoke while pregnant can damage baby's heart

Mums-to-be who are both overweight and smoke during their pregnancy risk damaging their baby's developing heart, finds research published online in Heart.

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Stop taking steroids: Kidney transplant recipients may not need long-term prednisone

Rapid discontinuation of the immunosuppressive steroid prednisone after a kidney transplant can help prevent serious side effects, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American So ...

Medicine & Health / Other

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Will you have a heart attack or stroke?

Will you have a heart attack or a stroke in your lifetime? Your odds may be worse than you think.

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

High animal fat diet increases gestational diabetes risk

Women who consumed a diet high in animal fat and cholesterol before pregnancy were at higher risk for gestational diabetes than women whose diets were lower in animal fat and cholesterol, according to researchers at the National ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 25, 2012 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease

Eating food fried in olive or sunflower oil is not linked to heart disease or premature death, finds a paper published in the British Medical Journal today.

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 3.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Lifestyle counseling reduces time to reach treatment goals for people with diabetes

Lifestyle counseling, practiced as part of routine care for people with diabetes, helps people more quickly lower blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol levels and keep them under control, according to a large, long-term ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Entry point for hepatitis C infection identified

A molecule embedded in the membrane of human liver cells that aids in cholesterol absorption also allows the entry of hepatitis C virus, the first step in hepatitis C infection, according to research at the University of ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Jan 24, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Multiple medicines may double fall rate for young and middle aged

(Medical Xpress) -- Working-age adults who take combinations of prescription medication may be doubling their risk of serious falls at home according to research from The University of Auckland.

Medicine & Health / Medications

created Jan 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Gut hormone leads to weight loss in overweight or obese patients

Giving overweight or obese patients a gut hormone that suppresses appetite leads to clinically beneficial weight loss as well as reduced blood pressure and cholesterol levels, finds a study published in the British Medical ...

Medicine & Health / Health

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Researchers discover new culprit in atherosclerosis

A new study by NYU Langone Medical Center researchers identified a new culprit that leads to atherosclerosis, the accumulation of fat and cholesterol that hardens into plaque and narrows arteries. The research, published ...

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created Jan 09, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy steroid found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and fluidity. Cholesterol is the principal sterol synthesized by animals, but small quantities are synthesized in other eukaryotes, such as plants and fungi. It is almost completely absent among prokaryotes, which include bacteria. Cholesterol is classified as a sterol.

Since cholesterol is essential for life, it is primarily synthesized de novo within the body. However excessive levels of cholesterol in blood circulation are strongly associated with progression of atherosclerosis. For an adult, typical total body cholesterol synthesis is about 1 gram per day (less if dietary intake is high) and total body cholesterol content is about 35 g. Average dietary intake in western societies is 0.2 - 0.3 grams. Cholesterol is excreted by the liver via the bile into the digestive tract. Typically about 50% of the excreted cholesterol is reabsorbed by the small bowel back into the blood stream.

The name cholesterol originates from the Greek chole- (bile) and stereos (solid), and the chemical suffix -ol for an alcohol, as François Poulletier de la Salle first identified cholesterol in solid form in gallstones, in 1769. However, it was only in 1815 that chemist Eugène Chevreul named the compound "cholesterine".

For more information about Cholesterol, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.