Knowing the Facts About Your Cholesterol

Betty Stephens knows keeping her cholesterol in check is part of a heart-healthy lifestyle."It gives you a real high to know you're doing the right thing," she said.So how's your cholesterol IQ? Take this short quiz and find out.True or false?"Children cannot have high cholesterol."This is false."More and more we're seeing children being affected by things like having high cholesterol, high blood pressure and even diabetes. And that's usually due to things like a lack of exercise or a poor diet," said Dr. Jyoti Sharma, a cardiologist."All cholesterol is bad."This is also false."We have both good and bad cholesterol in our body. The good cholesterol, called HDL, if that level is very high it can actually help protect against things like having a heart attack. One of the things you can do to get HDL is work out," said Dr. Sharma."You don't need a cholesterol screening until you're middle-aged."This is false."Current national guidelines suggest that everyone get a baseline cholesterol checked when you're 20 years old," said Dr. Sharma.The good news: cholesterol is one risk factor for heart disease that can be controlled.