Cholesterol word is regularly heard nowadays. Whether you know the meaning or not but you get to hear the word very frequently and even notice many suffering from its disorder. Cholesterol is an important fatty substance in the body as it helps to generate hormones in the body and even maintains the nutrient balance. However, too much of anything is harmful so is the case with cholesterol. High cholesterol symptoms are various systemic problems in the body that are very risky. Here you will get a holistic knowledge of cholesterol.
What is Cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a kind of lipid with a waxy texture. It is produced in the body by the liver as it is essential for the building of cell membranes, Vitamin D, and hormones. Cholesterol is non-soluble in water, due to which it cannot travel through the blood. Lipoproteins are produced by the liver to help cholesterol travel in the body.
Now you might be wondering, what is lipoprotein? Lipoprotein is nothing but a substance made from a combination of protein and fat. Lipoproteins are formed in two major forms high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Thus, it forms two types of major cholesterol that are LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. LDL cholesterol is bad cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol is good. So you are diagnosed with high cholesterol when your body contains an excess of LDL cholesterol.
LDL High Cholesterol causes the deposition of fats in your blood vessels, which gradually develops, making it tough for normal blood flow. The fat deposition breaks down later on and results in clots which ultimately lead to heart problems like heart attack and heart stroke. There are no specific symptoms for high cholesterol, so it is advisable that you get the test done for cholesterol level regularly to diagnose it at an early stage and prevent all the health problems that you might face due to high-level cholesterol.
HDL cholesterol – Good Cholesterol
This cholesterol protects your body from high cholesterol symptoms as it returns the LDL high cholesterol back to the liver in order to remove it from the body. In this way, HDL cholesterol will help in preventing fat deposition in your blood vessel because this deposition can lead to a heart attack. Thus, HDL cholesterol at an optimum level protects you from major heart diseases. This is the reason why HDL cholesterol is called Good Cholesterol.
LDL cholesterol – Bad cholesterol
This cholesterol helps in the transport of cholesterol in the body, but LDL high cholesterol leads to deposition on the walls of blood vessels resulting in the formation of cholesterol plaque. This plaque causes narrowing of the blood vessel, which affects the normal blood flow resulting in clot formation. These clots ultimately result in heart attack and stroke. Thus, it is called bad cholesterol.
Causes of High Cholesterol
There are many reasons for an increase in cholesterol levels. However, some of the major reasons are as follows:
- Less physical activity and more smoking in your lifestyle can cause to increase in cholesterol levels.
- Consumption of food for high cholesterol, like intake of food containing high levels of saturated fats and trans fat, can cause high cholesterol levels in your body.
- High cholesterol is an inheritable condition, so any family history of high cholesterol also increases the chances of you getting high cholesterol.
- In a few of the cases, a genetic disorder, familial hypercholesterolemia, is seen. This disorder prevents your body from doing away with LDL. However, this is a very rare condition.
- Some of the other health conditions that increase cholesterol are hypothyroidism, diabetes, obesity, etc.
- Certain medicines can also contribute to high cholesterol, like water pills, corticosteroids, anticonvulsants, beta-blockers, anti-psychotics, and anabolic steroids.
Also Read:- A Guide To Keep Your Liver Healthy
Symptoms of high Cholesterol
It is very difficult to predict high cholesterol conditions as this condition remains silent. There are no specific high cholesterol symptoms that are obvious to confirm the condition, so people stay unaware of their high cholesterol condition unless the condition gets severe to control. The severe condition generally leads to heart attack or stroke. It is at this time that people get to know about their high cholesterol condition when it is too late.
Thus, it becomes important on your part to undergo routine health checkups. You should not hesitate to undergo screening for cholesterol, especially when you have a family history of heart attacks and strokes and also when you are regularly consuming animal protein. If your age is 20 years or above, you should get the test done to check the level of cholesterol in your body.
Risk factors for high cholesterol
Your chances of getting high cholesterol increase when you:
- Are suffering from any renal disorder, hypothyroidism, or diabetes
- Are addicted to smoking, especially tobacco products
- Have obesity or are overweight
- Have no or less physical activity in your routine
- Anyone in your family has high cholesterol
- Are consuming unhealthy food for high cholesterol, like fast food, as they contain trans and saturated fats
Diagnosis for high cholesterol
To get your cholesterol level tested, you have to undergo a blood test. This blood test is the lipid profile test in which the level of various lipids in your body is screened. To get this blood test done, you will have to stop eating and drinking at least 12 hours before the test.
Preventive measures for High Cholesterol
There are certain preventive measures that can protect you from undergoing high cholesterol treatment. Some of the lifestyle measures that help in preventing high cholesterol are as follows:
- Keep check of your weight and try maintaining optimum weight.
- Not to get addicted to smoking.
- You should consume a nutritious and healthy diet that does not contain immense animal fats or trans fat and is low in cholesterol but contains high fiber. Healthy food for high cholesterol is vegetables, fruits, fish, etc.
- Induce much physical activity in your routine and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.
- Avoid taking high amounts of alcohol.
So inducing some of these living habits in your lifestyle will help you from building high cholesterol. However, it is not possible to control the genetic factor. In addition to this, you should also listen to your doctor's advice about undergoing the diagnostic test for high cholesterol, especially when you are at a higher risk of getting high cholesterol or any heart disease.
High Cholesterol treatment
The primary step that your doctor will advise you for controlling high cholesterol is to bring changes in your lifestyle. The changes that are important are as follows:
- You will have to inculcate the habit of exercising daily, and your target should be of 150 minutes a week, so you can begin with exercising for at least 30 minutes a day.
- If you have a habit of smoking, you need to quit the habit.
- You maintain a moderate weight. If you are overweight, then reducing weight can give you good results to the extent that just 10% of weight loss starts giving you a positive result.
- You have to consume a healthy and nutritious diet that is rich in fiber and low in cholesterol.
- You will have to keep watch on your blood pressure and blood sugar.
- Doctors may prescribe medicines if required. Medications for high cholesterol mostly include statins.
Conclusion
From the above details, it can be concluded that as high cholesterol is a silent condition that is it shows no symptoms, it is recommended that you should get your health checkup done regularly from a reliable diagnostic center like Agilus. This will save you from complications and major heart diseases arising due to high cholesterol conditions. However, maintaining a healthy lifestyle will help to prevent the condition.
Agilus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Limited
