Gray Transportation wants all of our employees to live healthy. Sadly the trucking industry is not usually known for healthy lifestyles. We hope that talking about health and offer easy ideas for better health can change that, at least for our company.
September is National Cholesterol Education Month. What is cholesterol and how did I get it? Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that your body needs. We all have some and need some. The problem comes when we have too much of the bad kind and not enough of the good kind.
There are two kinds of cholesterol: high-density lipoprotein (HDL) the “good” cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) the “bad” cholesterol. When we talk about having high cholesterol, we are talking about “bad” LDL cholesterol.
What does cholesterol do in the body? Too much cholesterol in your blood can build up on the walls of your arteries and form blockages. Those blockages may lead to heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. High cholesterol in the blood is one of the main risk factors for two of the leading causes of death in the United States; heart disease and stroke.
Bad news, seventy-one million American adults have high cholesterol. More bad news, only one-third of them have the condition under control.
What can you do? Get screened. Screening is the key to detecting high cholesterol. High cholesterol does not have symptoms and many (most) people do not know that their cholesterol is too high. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to check your cholesterol level with a blood draw screening. The National Cholesterol Education Program recommends that adults aged 20 years or older have their cholesterol checked every 5 years, more often if your numbers are high or you have a family history of high cholesterol.
You may need to have your cholesterol checked more often if your total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL or higher, your HDL cholesterol is lower than 40 mg/dL or you have other risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Talk to your doctor about diet and medication options.
Gray Transportation cares about your health. If you are looking to drive for a great local company, please contact us today.