Dancing On Ice: Colin Jackson receives a score of 37.5

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After a mega successful career in athletics Colin retired from the sport at the age of 36. Although looking and feeling physically fit he took the decision to go for a full body health check. Amongst a variety of tests Colin had a blood test which revealed that he had high cholesterol. Surprised and shocked by the news when told by the medical professional the star’s first reaction was “how!?”

Talking exclusively to Express.co.uk Colin recalled his reaction to the diagnosis back in 2006 “I was like, well how can I potentially have high cholesterol, I do all the exercise that you can possibly imagine and I am really quite fit. I didn’t quite get it”.

Colin continued to speak about how he initially thought that high cholesterol was only a worry for those who were obese, but the doctor explained that in actuality this is not the case.

“The GP asked me a couple of background questions, if I was feeling quite stressed because I had just retired, is there any cholesterol in the family and so on.

“And because I did have high cholesterol in other family members we kind of worked out that potentially that was the reason for my cholesterol levels to be so high.”

“The first thing I did was change my diet. I cut out as much saturated fat as I possibly could,” Colin explained. “So, I cut out my dairy and then my mother suggested taking little shots of stuff like Benecol that can help you lower your cholesterol. Then of course I tried to level out stresses as well.”

In light of National Cholesterol Month though the whole of October, Colin is urging people to get their cholesterol levels checked like he did.

He said: “I think one of the things about cholesterol is that it is the kind of thing that is happening and you don’t know because of course you look physically amazing.

“For me because people knew I was in professional sport, people always presumed that I was super fit, they just think that the internal is as good as the external.

“So what we are trying to do is get as many people as possible to get themselves checked.”

For Colin, the dangers of what high cholesterol can lead to took a heartbreaking personal turn. Recently the athlete lost his father to heart failure. Due to the link of high cholesterol and coronary problems, the star has become even more passionate about making sure others do not fall into the same position.

“The fact that nearly a third of us have never even had a check when it is so simple to do and the results can be life changing. And that’s why we’re trying to push people.

“If I as a top world class athlete at the time who had just retired and had high cholesterol then there are many people out there who are also suffering from high cholesterol.”

Teaming up with the very company that helped him reduce his cholesterol levels – Benecol, Colin found out that four in 10 adults in the UK will suffer with high cholesterol at some point in their life. For a long time this might go undiagnosed.

Luckily for Colin small lifestyle changes were enough to reduce his levels.

He continued to say: “It took me about three weeks to get to that magic five mark, so these changes can make a difference. You can knock it down within a very short time.”

For others who may need more help reducing their cholesterol levels, statins are a form of medication that aid in doing so.They’re usually offered to people who have been diagnosed with coronary heart disease or another cardiovascular disease, or whose personal or family medical history suggests they’re likely to develop it during the next 10 years. In most cases they should be used in conjunction with other lifestyle changes like Colin suggests.

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