Cholesterol is a fatty, waxy like substance found in your blood. Your liver makes it, your brain uses it and it is found in foods from animals. As levels of cholesterol in your blood increase, the extra cholesterol collects along the sides of your blood vessels and causes the walls to change from flexible to hard. The build up can extend from the sides of the blood vessels to form a clog. In short, too high of cholesterol levels can lead to heart disease or stroke.
High cholesterol can run in families but there are lifestyle choices that can help improve your chances of reducing your risk of heart disease.
Unfortunately, high cholesterol levels do not cause any physical symptoms; you will need to have blood test to determine what your levels are. Depending on your age and risk factors, you may not need to have your levels checked more often than every 5 years or as frequent as every year.
Risk factors
Some of the major reasons that your cholesterol level is too high or unhealthy are:
* Obesity - A BMI of 30 or higher usually leads to higher levels of cholesterol.
* Lack of exercise - Physical activity increases your high density lipoprotein levels or your healthy cholesterol levels. Your healthy cholesterol helps remove the unhealthy cholesterol, or low density lipoprotein, from your bloodstream.
* Smoking - Nicotine use and cigarette smoking overly stresses the walls of your blood vessels making it easier for deposits of fats to build up. Smoking can even lower your levels of HDL.
* Diabetes - When your blood has high levels of blood sugar, it is also more likely to have high levels of the dangerous very low density lipoprotein and low levels of the healthy high density lipoprotein.
* Poor diet - Foods high in saturated fats and trans fats can lead to higher levels of cholesterol. Additionally, foods higher in cholesterol can lead to higher levels of cholesterol.
* Age - As you get older, your body’s chemistry changes and the risk of high cholesterol increases. Your liver is not able to remove LDL from your blood as effectively as you age.
Complications
You will not want to ignore a lipid test that indicates you have high cholesterol; you could be currently developing deposits and clogs in your blood vessels. The deposits on the walls of your blood vessels, or atherosclerosis, can reduce their ability to move blood through your body effectively. Long term high cholesterol will lead to:
* Chest Pain - Angina, or chest pain, is an indication your blood vessels are not able to move blood through your body.
* Heart Attack - The deposits along the walls of your blood vessels tear or rupture, then you can have a clog which will block the flow of blood. If the clog travels to your heart and the blood flow to part of your heart stops, you will have a heart attack.
* Stroke - Like a heart attack, a stroke is a result of a clog that blocks the flow of blood to your brain.