Wednesday weigh-in

I weighed 147 this morning, and Cliff weighed 220 and 1/2.  He is so anxious to get under that 220 mark, and I know he'll make it eventually.

I read some new things about cholesterol today:

High Cholesterol Targets More Than Just Your Heart

Preventing heart attacks and strokes aren't the only reasons to limit cholesterol in your diet. Now scientists say dementia and prostate cancer - two common diseases associated with advancing age - may be linked to uncontrolled cholesterol. The good news is that cholesterol intake - and the lifestyle factors that lead to high cholesterol - can be controlled. Cholesterol is a fat-like substance primarily produced in the liver but also absorbed into the blood when you eat animal products like meats, eggs and dairy. Too much cholesterol in the diet can lead to a buildup of plaque in the arteries and increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. Swedish researchers have found that people with healthier lifestyles - who were physically active, had normal blood pressure levels and controlled their cholesterol intake - were less likely to develop dementia. A disease that typically affects older people, dementia is the loss of mental abilities severe enough to interfere with normal daily activities. The two most common types are Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. The scientists found that people with lower cholesterol levels and more active lifestyles enjoyed lower rates of all forms of dementia. Researchers in Italy also report that prostate cancer - the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men - was more likely to develop in older men who also had high cholesterol levels. Men over age 65 had an 80 percent greater likelihood of having high cholesterol. Previous studies have found that men with high cholesterol levels, especially if they were detected before age 50, appeared to have a higher risk of prostate cancer. The same study found a smaller link between gallstones and prostate cancer. Gallstones are solid deposits that form in the gallbladder or bile ducts when substances in bile, such as cholesterol, crystallize. The study found it may be possible that lowering cholesterol through medication and diet may reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Although more studies are necessary to identify and confirm cholesterol's role in dementia and prostate cancer, it is becoming clear that controlling cholesterol - along with healthy lifestyle habits (diet and daily exercise) - may be key to preventing many diseases and conditions.