YRMC event educates seniors about ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol
When thinking of cholesterol, most people think of heart disease and stroke.
However, Dr. Kelly Lizarraga notes that it is important to know the difference between what is often dubbed as “bad” cholesterol and “good” cholesterol. While “bad” cholesterol can increase one’s risk for heart disease and stroke, high levels of “good” cholesterol can lower one’s risk, she said.
Lizarraga noted that it is important to know the difference in order to properly control cholesterol levels. Learning about cholesterol was just what members of Yuma Regional Medical Center’s Silver Care Program did on Tuesday morning at the YRMC Corporate Center.
The YRMC Silver Care Program was established in 2010 with the goal to continuously reach out and assist the senior population.
Throughout the year, Silver Care members receive invitations to certain events such as the Coffee and Conversation series of educational talks and presentations. These events offer members a chance to meet with health experts and board-certified health professionals on various topics.
Subjects for the talks cover various aspects of healthcare and healthy living.
During Tuesday’s event, Lizarraga said cholesterol is a waxy substance that comes from two sources: the liver and foods that are ingested and that are derived from animals such as meat, poultry, and full-fat dairy products. She noted that there are two types of cholesterol: LDL or low density lipoprotein and HDL, high density lipoprotein.
LDL, often considered the “bad” cholesterol, contributes to fatty buildups in arteries (atherosclerosis) which narrows the arteries and can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and peripheral artery disease (PAD) she explained.
HDL, often called “good” cholesterol, carries LDL cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, thus LDL is broken down and passed from the body. However, she noted that HDL doesn’t completely eliminate LDL. Additionally, she said only 1/3 -¼ of blood cholesterol is carried by HDL.
“The take-home message is high HDL is good for us,” Lizarraga said. “It’s a good cholesterol and it’s what helps us prevent having these strokes or heart attacks. If we have high LDL it’s a bad thing. We don’t want to have the high LDL. We always want to make sure it’s below a certain range but we always want to increase the HDL.”
Certain lifestyle habits can increase one’s risk for unhealthy blood cholesterol levels such as consuming high saturated fats or trans fats, lack of physical activity, smoking or exposure to tobacco smoke and excess weight. Lizarraga said these all lower HDL and increase LDL.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than one in five youths has an unhealthy cholesterol reading and 95 million U.S. adults age 20 or older have high cholesterol.
The CDC recommends cholesterol testing be done once between ages 9 and 11 (before puberty), once between ages 17 and 21 (after puberty) and every four to six years in adulthood.
According to her biography, Lizarraga was born and raised in Santa Monica, Calif. She earned her medical degree from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, Mexico.
Her biography shows that Lizarraga’s clinical areas of interest include working in community-based medicine, focusing on patient and family-centered care, and striving to reduce healthcare disparities.
Along with Coffee and Conversation, Silver Care also offers health screenings at low or no cost, a monthly newsletter, access to the Silver Strides Walking Club, as well as other benefits.
For more information, visit yumaregional.org/For-The-Community/Silver-Care-Program or call (928) 336-3100.