Cholesterol is essential for good health, but too much can lead to serious health issues including heart attack or stroke

Cholesterol in our blood is essential for good health, but an excess can lead to serious and potentially fatal health issues. NHS data shows that approximately 59% of the population have high cholesterol levels, which increases their risk of heart disease or strokes.

According to the NHS, certain groups face higher risk, including those over 50, men, women who have experienced the menopause or individuals of South Asian or sub-Saharan African heritage. It can also be hereditary.

It can additionally be triggered by eating fatty foods, insufficient exercise, being overweight, smoking and alcohol consumption. However, there are straightforward guidelines to follow and simple switches can help reduce the risk of developing the condition while also working to decrease levels in those already affected, reports the Express.

The NHS advises: “Too much cholesterol can block your blood vessels. It makes you more likely to have heart problems or a stroke. High cholesterol does not usually cause symptoms. You can only find out if you have it from a blood test.”

What is high cholesterol

Cholesterol is measured by a blood test. This can measure:

• total cholesterol – the overall amount of cholesterol in your blood
• good cholesterol (called HDL) – this may make you less likely to have heart problems or a stroke
• non-HDL cholesterol – the difference between total cholesterol and HDL

These will be examined together with factors such as age, blood pressure and other health conditions to estimate the risk of cardiovascular disease. What is a good level is dependent on things like your age, any health conditions you have and your risk of cardiovascular disease. These levels are a guide for healthy adults.

People who have been ill, are taking some medication, or have recently had a baby, might have different levels. It generally does not matter whether you have eaten before your test or not. The figures show what is a healthy level in each category.

• Total cholesterol: Below 5mmol/L
• HDL (good cholesterol): Above 1.0mmol/L for men or above 1.2mmol/L for women
• Non-HDL (bad cholesterol): Below 4mmol/L

Ways to lower cholesterol

Eat less fatty food

To reduce your cholesterol, try to cut down on fatty food, especially food that contains saturated fat. You can still have foods that contain a healthier type of fat called unsaturated fat. Check labels on food to see what type of fat it has in it.

Try to eat more:

• oily fish, like mackerel and salmon
• olive oil, rapeseed oil and spreads made from these oils

• brown rice, wholegrain bread and wholewheat pasta
• nuts and seeds
• fruits and vegetables

Try to eat less:

• meat pies, sausages and fatty meat
• butter, lard and ghee
• cream and cheese
• cakes and biscuits
• food that contains coconut oil or palm oil

Exercise more

Aim to do at least 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of moderate intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity activity a week. Some good things to try when starting out include:

• walking – try to walk fast enough so your heart starts beating faster
• swimming
• cycling

Try a few different exercises to find something you like doing. You’re more likely to keep doing it if you enjoy it.

Stop smoking

Smoking can raise your cholesterol and make you more likely to have serious problems like heart attacks, strokes and cancer. If you want to stop smoking, you can get help and support from:

Cut down on alcohol

Try to:

• avoid drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis
• spread your drinking over 3 or more days if you regularly drink as much as 14 units a week
• have several drink-free days each week

The NHS adds: “Ask your GP for help and advice if you’re struggling to cut down.”

McIlroy sounded without fear about the prospect. “I’ve built up a nice cushion at this point. I guess my mindset is just trying to keep playing well and keeping my foot on the gas,” he said. “Don’t protect it. Go out and play freely, keep swinging. A big part of the lesson from the 2011 Masters to the 2011 US Open was: don’t get protective. Go out there and keep playing, keep trying to make birdies, stay as trusting and as committed as possible.”

McIlroy knows his pursuers well. In fact, he knows Patrick Reed only too well. The divisive American saw off McIlroy in the last pairing in 2018 to don his Green Jacket. And then, three years ago, McIlroy took a little revenge over Reed at the Dubai Desert Classic in an almighty ding dong that involved the American throwing a tee at the Northern Irishman and a feud developing through the media.

It could still be delicious and following his 69, Reed agreed. “It’s one of those golf courses that if you go out and you post a low number, you just never know,” he said. “That’s the thing about this course, when it starts playing this firm and fast. just have to wait and see what the weekend entails. At the same time I love the position I put myself in. Hopefully I can go out and have a good day tomorrow and have a good shot going into Sunday.”

One shot back of second is McIlroy’s Ryder Cup partner Tommy Fleetwood. The Englishman conjured two eagles in his 68 and with only two blemishes on his card – on the first and last – he will be relishing the challenge of going two better here than two years ago and one better than his two runner-up finishes in the majors.

The tree marks the 400th anniversary of Lisburn, but its plaque and mount dedicated to the former Duke of York was removed due to his links with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein

A Lagan Valley suggestion box on the future of a controversial Irish Yew tree planted by ‘Prince Andrew’ closes today amid public views to chop it down for a bonfire or dedicate it to a victim.

The tree marks the 400th anniversary of Lisburn, but its plaque and mount dedicated to the former Duke of York was removed due to his links with billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council elected members have been given a month to express their views on the future plans for the tree and any potential new plaque on site at Lagan Valley Island civic centre.

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Only one suggestion has been made public from an email sent by Lisburn North SDLP councillor Pat Catney to all elected members saying he felt the plaque should remain “to not re-write that historical record”. He has since “clarified his position” and “believes the plaque should be permanently removed”.

This week, a party spokesperson said: “The SDLP believes the plaque should be permanently removed.

“The SDLP has been clear from the outset of the Epstein scandal that tributes to Andrew Mountbatten Windsor are inappropriate, and we were among the first to call for their removal.

“Our thoughts are with all the victims of Epstein and those associated with him.”

The plaque in question was inscribed ‘planted by HRH Prince Andrew, Duke of York’ in 2009 ‘to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Lisburn’.

Some social media suggestions from the public have called for the tree to remain with the plaque kept removed.

However, other public suggestions have called to “chop down” the tree or to be “thrown on a bonfire” whilst another says to name the tree after a “victim”.

An Alliance spokesperson said: “As we made clear in the consultation process, it would be our collective position that a new plaque should be installed at the tree reflecting the great significance of Lisburn’s 400th anniversary, but that makes no reference to who planted it.”

‘Prince Andrew’ recently gave up titles including the Duke of York due to continued accusations linking him to the late Jeffrey Epstein.

King Charles III, later stripped the now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of the rest of his remaining titles.

Virginia Giuffre, the woman who alleged that Prince Andrew had sex with her at Ghislaine Maxwell’s house when she was 17, has since died by suicide earlier in 2025. The former Prince has continued to deny all sexual abuse allegations.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service also contacted the DUP, Sinn Fein and UUP for comment.

A council letter from CEO David Burns had been sent to all councillors in March seeking any suggestions “to recognise the significance of the Yew tree by the 10th April”.

A spokesperson from Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council said: “The council can confirm that all suggestions received regarding the future of the Irish Yew Tree, associated plaque and mount will be considered, and any decisions or reports on the matter will be provided to councillors in due course.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) posted to social media on Wednesday (April 8), asking the public for information about what was believed to be a potential kidnapping.

They said the incident had taken place at 4.30pm on Monday (April 6) on Manchester Road in Bolton when a man was approached by a car.

Officers said the occupant engaged with the man in conversation before it was suspected he was forced to “get into the car against his will” and the car then drove towards the town centre.

The incident took place on Monday on Manchester Road (Image: Google Maps)

They said that after “initial enquiries” they believed the man “may have been a victim of a crime” and were keen to speak to him to find out what happened.

Today (April 10), GMP announced they are now “satisfied” the incident was not a kidnapping and thanked the public for their help.

In a Facebook post, they said: “Following an appeal regarding a suspected kidnapping in central Bolton on Monday, we’re now satisfied that no kidnapping occurred.

“We’d like to thank the public for their help.”

An 18-year-old man was remanded in custody to appear in court at 9.15am today (Friday, April 10).

It came after North Yorkshire Police were called to reports of a disturbance in Victoria Court, Scarborough, at approximately 11.50am on Thursday (April 9).

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A force spokesperson said: “On arrival, officers found the victim who had sustained several injuries.

“During initial enquiries, the suspect was spotted by officers in the West Square area and was subsequently arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

“He was later charged with wounding with intent, possessing an offensive weapon and criminal damage, and was remanded in custody to appear at York Magistrates’ Court at 9.15am today (10 April).

“Swift action and great work by all the officers involved.”

Calls on social media are urging everyone “from HGV drivers to farmers” to take part in a “day of action” on April 14

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The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is urging protesters not to block emergency vehicles as demonstrations over fuel prices are set to target key roads.

In a statement issued on social media, NIAS said they were “aware” protests are likely to take place “at a number of locations” across the region on Tuesday, April 14.

“The safety of both staff and patients remains our priority, and we would ask that emergency service vehicles are not impeded by any protests,” a spokesperson said.

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The announcement from the ambulance service comes after a post shared on Facebook has called for everyone “from HGV drivers to farmers” to take part in a “day of action” at 2pm, on Tuesday, April 14.

The post reads: “Join us as we bring the country to a stop and make our voices be heard.”

The protest is expected to take place at several locations including Larne, the Westlink, Lisburn, Nutts Corner, Mallusk, Ballygawley and Omagh.

In their statement issued on Friday, NIAS said: “The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is aware that protests are likely to take place at a number of locations across Northern Ireland on Tuesday 14th April.

“NIAS would like to reassure the public that every effort is being made to maintain health and social care services as far as possible.

“If there is any disruption to services, then local providers will advise patients and service users accordingly.

“The safety of both staff and patients remains our priority, and we would ask that emergency service vehicles are not impeded by any protests.”

Meanwhile, a PSNI spokesman said: “Police are aware of posters online calling for protests at various locations across Northern Ireland and we will be monitoring the situation.”

For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.

“If it doesn’t happen, I’m blaming JD Vance,” Trump joked, drawing laughter at last week’s East Room event attended by senior administration officials including the vice-president, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. And “if it does happen,” Trump added, “I’m taking full credit.”

Despite its flaws, in terms of hardware and software, a reader explains why the Nintendo GameCube is his mostly fondly remembered video game console.

My love of Nintendo GameCube is weird. I’m not going to deny that the Nintendo GameCube is my favourite games console ever. But it was the first console that I felt was truly my own, because my brothers didn’t play it. It was bought for my 10th birthday in 2002 and it was situated in my bedroom – so I could play it whenever I wanted to. Yet beyond this, I loved the GameCube for its start-up screen signature, getting sports games and pitting the AI against each other in tournaments, and playing the exclusive WWE games on it.

Something I particularly loved about the GameCube was you had all these family friendly platformers and sports titles with Nintendo’s iconic mascots adorning them, but occasionally a Resident Evil game would turn up exclusively on the system and soak all that bountiful joy in viscous dread. There was a variety on the GameCube I really love and appreciate, and there were many experimental first and third party games on the system too.

Yet no matter how much I love Nintendo GameCube, I know it was a huge step down from the N64. The Pokémon games we loved on the N64, such as Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Stadium 2, and Pokémon Snap were replaced with the likes of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale Of Darkness. Not to say the latter two games were terrible, but the pleasures and joys of the N64 games were lost and replaced with something far less enticing and inviting.

I reckon both of these Pokémon GameCube adventures mirrored the declining popularity of Pokémon. Personally, I loved Pokémon a lot in my single digits, but from 2002 onwards my interest disappeared, and thus these GameCube games represent my diminished Pokémon fandom.

WWF/WWE games were also very stripped back on GameCube. The Herculean success of the Attitude era and its exclusive N64 titles WWF WrestleMania 2000 and WWF No Mercy were replaced with four WWE games that wouldn’t even defeat Kurt Angle if he was blindfolded and both of his legs were taped together.

WrestleMania X8 was poor and didn’t start things well at all. WrestleMania XIX was appreciable for its audacious Revenge Mode but only felt like a marginal improvement over X8. Then the Day Of Reckoning games were really solid and enjoyable, but you still couldn’t defend titles in Exhibition mode, nor could you play as any WWE superstar in their story modes. The WWE games had been scaled back significantly and they just weren’t on the level that came before, despite a few of them still being readily enjoyable.

This weird love of GameCube I’ve been talking about is nestled in the consensus that this console was far inferior to the N64, and many of the games didn’t hit anywhere near as hard as they did on N64. I still favour the GameCube among every system because of its quirks. From the lunchbox-like design to the start-up screen, and how it can play different jingles if you hold down the ‘Z’ button, to the experimentation of the games that released on the system.

The Nintendo GameCube is still my favourite console no matter how middling it might seem when considering all the games consoles ever released.

By reader James Davie

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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The price of oil has changed a lot in the last few weeks. There have been dips as well as peaks, but generally, since the the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February, the black stuff has been getting more expensive.

As a direct result, petrol and diesel prices in the UK have also rocketed.

Motorists have felt the steep rise on petrol station forecourts, while some fuel sellers have been accused of profiteering and ripping off customers. There have also been calls for the government to intervene to prevent costs from spiralling out of control.

But what can it actually do to bring petrol prices down?

One option might be to impose price caps, setting a legal limit on what motorists can be charged for a litre of fuel. But a major problem with this idea comes down to a lack of supply.

Taking the Strait of Hormuz as a perfect example, if fewer tankers from Kuwait and Qatar are getting through, that means there is less oil available. As stocks runs low, it is impossible for everyone to get the same amount of fuel at the same price as before.

If price caps were introduced (with the supplier taking on the full impact of the discount), the countries and firms with oil to sell would naturally shift their sales to countries willing to pay higher prices. So a price cap would probably lead to empty petrol pumps in the UK.

There have already been shortages in France, where one major fuel provider implemented its own price cap and was subsequently inundated with customers.

In contrast, high fuel prices may persuade households to cut down on consumption, which is helpful when there is less oil available. After all, people don’t switch from travelling by car to public transport (which is often less convenient) unless there is a good reason to do so. High fuel prices are a good reason.

Research suggests that in the UK, a 10% increase in petrol prices can lead to a reduction in demand of up to 5%. So, high prices are a way of adjusting consumption to cope with the lower supply.

Duty calls

In the longer term, households might invest in a way which reduces their dependence on future fossil fuel consumption. Maybe, instead of a big SUV, the next family car will be be smaller or electric.

In the short term, though, demand for petrol and diesel will remain. Not all commuting and travelling can be cancelled or postponed. People need to get to work, children need to go to school.

A more promising policy intervention could be temporary fuel duty discounts – reducing the proportion of fuel costs which ends up in the Treasury. Unlike with price caps, oil exporters’ incentives to sell in the UK are not diminished by reducing fuel duty. So fuel duty cuts wouldn’t cause supply issues.

The issue here is that fuel duty cuts reduce government revenue at a time when it is already seriously stretched. Fuel duty receipts account for almost 2% of UK government income.

Also, the measure is not very targeted. Wealthy households with multiple vehicles would benefit more than a single mother struggling to pay for petrol to get to work.

Making allowances

Another option, favoured by some economists, is based on one-off transfers of money from the state directly to some motorists.

Instead of fuel duty cuts, the government could pay out a fixed sum to those in particular need (much like the winter fuel allowance for heating bills). This could be paid to households under a certain income threshold that own a car.

When a similar transfer scheme for gas was implemented in Germany in 2022 after Russia shut off gas pipelines, firms and households received compensation based on past consumption. Germany was able to reduce its gas consumption by about 20% during that time.

Unlike a fuel duty cut, compensation does not change depending on the amount of fuel bought. So the incentive to cut down on fuel consumption wherever possible remains.

Indeed, households that leave the car at home will profit, as they keep the transfer. This is as it should be: households that use less fuel get rewarded, while those that need it still have some support.

Many economists like this proposal because it keeps prices as an accurate reflection of supply shortages, while providing targeted relief. Neither price caps nor fuel duty cuts achieve this.