High Cholesterol: Symptoms, Causes, Treatment and Prevention

 

Your blood contains a waxy substance called cholesterol. Although cholesterol is necessary for the body to produce healthy cells, high levels can raise your risk of heart disease.

It is possible to get fatty deposits in your blood vessels if your cholesterol is high. When these deposits grow over time, your arteries can no longer adequately pump blood. Sometimes, such deposits may abruptly rupture and create a clot that results in a stroke or heart attack.

Although bad lifestyle decisions are frequently the cause of high cholesterol, it can be prevented and treated. High cholesterol can also be inherited. To lower high cholesterol, a balanced diet, frequent exercise, and occasional medication are helpful.

Numerous other health issues are closely associated with high cholesterol. This means that it can cause some really serious issues (such as coronary artery disease). However, other illnesses can also cause it, particularly those that cause inflammation in the body (such as lupus). Individuals who have high cholesterol frequently also have high blood pressure.

What does high cholesterol mean?

An excess of lipids, or fats, in the blood, is known as high cholesterol. Hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia are named for it.

To function, your body needs just the proper amount of lipids. Your body cannot utilize all the fats if you have an excess of them. Your arteries begin to fill with more fat. They produce plaque (fatty deposits) in your blood when they interact with other substances.

For years, this plaque may not cause any issues, but it gradually grows more and larger inside your arteries. This explains why it's risky to have high cholesterol untreated. Unbeknownst to you, the excess lipids in your blood help the plaque's growth. A blood test is the only method to determine whether you have high cholesterol.

A lipid panel, a blood test that measures the amount of lipids in your blood, provides this information. Based on your age, gender, and history of heart disease, your cholesterol level may be considered high.

Signs and symptoms of elevated cholesterol:

Most persons with high cholesterol don't have any symptoms. It is possible to run a marathon and have high cholesterol levels. It will take more health problems brought on by your high cholesterol before you feel any symptoms.

Causes:

Your blood carries cholesterol that is bonded to proteins. A lipoprotein is mixture of cholesterol and proteins. Depending on what the lipoprotein contains, cholesterol can be classified into many categories. They are as follows:

Lipoprotein with low density (LDL). Your body uses LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, to move cholesterol particles around. The accumulation of LDL cholesterol causes the artery walls to become narrow and hard.
lipoprotein with a high density (HDL). The "good" cholesterol, or HDL, collects extra cholesterol and is back to your liver.

Triglycerides are a type of blood fat that is usually measured as part of a lipid profile. Additionally, having high triglyceride levels can make you more susceptible to heart disease.

Triglyceride and cholesterol levels that are harmful are caused by factors that you may manage, like weight, inactivity, and eating a poor diet. Additionally, there may be uncontrollable factors at play. For instance, the way your body breaks down or removes LDL cholesterol from your blood may be influenced by your genetic makeup.

Unhealthy cholesterol levels can result from the following medical conditions:

• Persistent renal illness
• Diabetes
• HIV/AIDS
• Hypothyroidism
• Lupus

Some medications you may be taking for other health issues can also make your cholesterol levels worse, including:

• Cancer 
• Acne
• High blood pressure
• HIV/AIDS
• Abnormal heart rhythms
• Transplanting organs

Factors at risk:

Your chance of having abnormal cholesterol levels can be increased by the following factors:

• Poor diet. Unhealthy cholesterol levels can arise from consuming excessive amounts of trans or saturated fats. Full-fat dairy products and fatty meat cuts contain saturated fats. Packaged snacks and desserts are common sources of trans fats.

• Being overweight. You run the risk of having high cholesterol if your body mass index (BMI) is 30 or above.

• Lack of exercise. Exercise raises your body's "good," or HDL, cholesterol levels.

• Smoking. Smoking cigarettes may reduce your HDL, or "good," cholesterol levels.

•  Age. Unhealthy cholesterol can occur in even young children, although it is far more common in those over 40. The ability of your liver to eliminate LDL cholesterol decreases with age.

Treatment:

How to reduce cholesterol

Your doctor could suggest modifying your lifestyle if your cholesterol is high in lower it. They might advise you to alter your food, your exercise program, or other elements of your everyday schedule. They will probably urge you to stop smoking if you do.

In addition, your physician can recommend medications or other treatments to help lower your cholesterol. In some cases, they could suggest that you seek additional care from a specialist.

Lowering cholesterol with diet

Your physician may advise dietary adjustments to help you reach and maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

For instance, they might suggest that you:

• Reduce the amount of foods high in trans, saturated, and cholesterol fats.
• Choose lean protein sources including beans, fish, and poultry.
• Eat a wide variety of high-fiber foods, including whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
• Choose items that are baked, broiled, steamed, grilled, or roasted above-fried.
• When at all possible, stay away from fast food and sugary, prepackaged foods.

Foods high in trans, saturated, or cholesterol-containing fats include:

• Organ meats, red meat, egg yolks, and dairy products with high-fat content
• Prepared foods containing palm oil or cocoa butter
• Some baked products, such some cookies and muffins; deep-fried snacks, like potato chips, onion rings, and fried chicken
• Consuming meals high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish, may also help reduce LDL cholesterol. Omega-3s are rich in foods like herring, mackerel, and salmon, for instance. Omega-3s can also be found in walnuts, almonds, ground flaxseed, and avocados.

Medication for cholesterol:

Your doctor may occasionally recommend medicine to assist in lowering cholesterol levels.

The most often given drugs for elevated cholesterol levels are statins. They prevent your liver from generating additional cholesterol.

Among the statins are examples:

• Simvastatin, 
• Rosuvastatin,
•  Fluvastatin,
•  Atorvastatin

In addition, your physician could recommend additional drugs to treat high cholesterol, such as:

Resins or sequestrants that contain niacin, such as cholestyramine (Prevalite), colestipol (Colestid), or colesevalam (Welchol)

PCSK9 inhibitors, such as alirocumab (Praluent) and evolocumab (Repatha), and cholesterol absorption inhibitors, such as ezetimibe (Zetia) Some products combine multiple medications to help lower your body's absorption of cholesterol from food and lower the amount of cholesterol produced by your liver. Combining ezetimibe with simvastatin (Vytorin) is one such instance. Find out more about the medications used to treat high cholesterol.

Prevention:

Heart-healthy lifestyle modifications that can lower your cholesterol can also help keep your cholesterol from rising in the first place. To prevent high cholesterol levels, one may:

• Consume a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and low in salt.
• Reduce the quantity of animal fats and utilize healthy fats sparingly.
• Reduce excess weight and keep your weight in check.
• Quit smoking.
• Engage in at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week.
• Manage your stress.
• Consume a diet that's high in fiber and low in animal fats and cholesterol.
• Maintain a reasonable weight.
•  Regular exercise.
• Avoid smoking.
• For routine cholesterol tests, heed your doctor's advice. They would probably advise you to have frequent cholesterol testing if they believe you are at risk for high cholesterol or coronary heart disease.

References:

• Causes of high cholesterol (2020). https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/causes-of-high-cholesterol

• My cholesterol guide. American Heart Association. https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cholesterol/cholesterol-tools-and-resources. Accessed March 10, 2021

• About familial hypercholesterolemia. (2013). https://www.genome.gov/25520184/learning-about-familial-hypercholesterolemia/

• Blood cholesterol. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/blood-cholesterol. Accessed March 10, 2021.

• Cholesterol management at a glance. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/cholesterol-management-at-a-glance. Accessed April 1, 2021.

• Tibuakuu M, et al. Bempedoic acid for LDL-C lowering: What do we know? American College of Cardiology. https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2020/08/10/08/21/bempedoic-acid-for-ldl-c-lowering. Accessed March 10, 2021.

• De Ferranti SD, et al. Dyslipidemia in children: Management. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed March 10, 2021.

• Ferri FF. Hypercholesterolemia. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor 2021. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed March 10, 2021.

• Rosenson RS, et al. Management of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in the secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed March 10, 2021.

• Goldman L, et al., eds. Disorders of lipid metabolism. In: Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 26th ed. Elsevier; 2020. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed March 10, 2021.