Cause&Effects of High Cholesterol levels in Blood_KATE

How does cholesterol cause heart disease?

If you have too much cholesterol in your blood, the cholesterol will build over the wall of your arteries.  Overtime, It  increases  and it causes of hardening of the arteries so that your arteries become narrow and your blood flow to the hearth will slow down  or can’t flow to the hearth.  The blood carries oxygen to the hearth. If the hearth can’t get enough oxygen, you may suffer chest pain. High blood cholesterol increases the chance of having a heart attack or some of heart disease.

How High Cholesterol Causes Stroke?

Plaque buildup can keep your brain from getting enough blood and oxygen. If a clot completely blocks an artery which is feed your brain, you have a stroke.

Factors You Can Control

-Alcohol

drinking more than the recommended daily amount of alcohol

-Smoking

-What you eat

Cholesterol that come from foods such as egg yolks, meat , cheese and chocolate. If you  restrict cholesterol foods , saturated fat and trans fats, you can control your cholesterol level.

-Overweight

Being overweight tends to increase your LDL(bad) level, lower your HDL(good) level, and increase your total cholesterol levels

-Your activities

Lack of regular exercise can lead the weight gain and raise your bad cholesterol levels. Being exercise can help you lose your weight and your bad cholesterol levels. It can help you increase your good cholesterol levels.

Factors you can not control

-Age and Sex

Men often have lower  levels of good cholesterol than women. Before age 55.women usually have lower bad cholesterol levels than men. Nevertheless, After age 55 , women can have higher bad cholesterol levels than men.

-Heredity ( gender and age)

High cholesterol levels in blood can run in families.

An inherited condition ,which is called familial hypercholesterolemiaexternal , causes very high LDL (bad)cholesterol. This begin  at birth, and may cause a heart attack at an early age.

Most people should have :

-LDL, “bad” cholesterol, less than 100 mg/dL.  If you already have heart disease, you may need to aim for under 70 mg/dL.

-HDL, “good” cholesterol, 60 mg/dL or higher

-Triglycerides, another type of risky fat in your bloodstream, less than 150 mg/dL

Diagnosis of high cholesterol

Blood test : you should not eat for 12 hours before the test so that your food does not affect the result. Your doctor or nurse may take a blood sample using either a needle and syringe, or a finger prick.

Home testing : kits are also available but may not be very accurate. You should speak to your pharmacist about your result if you use a kit.

Level of cholesterol

- under 4mmol/l for total cholesterol

-under 2mmol/l for LDL cholesterol

-above 1mmol/l for HDL cholesterol

-under 1.7mmol/l for triglycerides

Who should have a cholesterol test?

If you are at high risk of cardiovascular or you have a family history of high cholesterol, you should have your cholesterol levels checked. 

Reference :

National heart,Lung, and blood institute

high cholesterol what it can do to you