HEALTH TIPS
In my last post I did an introduction into finding answer to
questions like what is cholesterol? ,functions of cholesterol in the human body, types of cholesterol in the body, why is HDL the good cholesterol? Click here to get all the details of that post.
In today's post we will be focusing on the causes of high blood cholesterol and its danger to your body.
Lifestyle factors listed below are contributory to high levels of cholesterol in the body:
NUTRITION-foods high in saturated fats [red meat, some pies, sausages,hard cheese,lard,pastry, cakes,most biscuits, and cream etc] increase the level of cholesterol in blood and body
SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE- people who do not exercise and spend most of their time sitting or lying down have significant higher levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and lower levels of HDL (good cholesterol).
BODY WEIGHT- people who are obese or overweight tend to have higher LDL levels and Lower HDL levels, compared to people who are of normal weight.
SMOKING-this can have quite a considerable effect on LDL levels.
ALCOHOL- people who consume too much alcohol regularly, generally have much higher levels of HDL, compared to people who abstain or those who drink in moderation.
RECOMMENDED LIMITS FOR ALCOHOL
Consumption is 21 units of alcohol per week for men and 14 units of alcohol per week for women.
*A UNIT of alcohol is:
*A small glass of wine (125ml)
*Half a pint of medium strength beer,lager or cider
*A pub measure of a shot of spirits (25ml)
*A pub measure of Sherry or fortified wine (50ml)
The following medical conditions can also contribute to higher levels of cholesterol in the body:
.High blood pressure(hypertension)
.Diabetes
.High levels of triglycerides
.Kidney diseases
.Liver diseases
.Under-active thyroid gland
Other factors which can be responsible for increased cholesterol level in the body are as follow:
-Hereditary: I.e it runs in the family.
-Gender: men have a greater chance of having high blood cholesterol levels than women.
-Age: The risk of elevated cholesterol in the body increases in older people.
-Early Menopause: Women whose menopause occurs early are more susceptible to higher cholesterol levels, compared to other women.
SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of high cholesterol co-exist with related disease processes in the human body. Sometimes, there may be no symptom at all other than detection of high cholesterol level on routine laboratory evaluation. When atherosclerosis has set in, which is a common consequence of having high cholesterol levels, possible symptoms are as below:
*Narrowed coronary arteries in the heart (angina)
*Leg pain when exercising- this is because the arteries that supply the legs have narrowed
*Blood clots and ruptured blood vessels-these can cause a stroke or TIA(mini-stroke).
*Ruptured plaques-this can lead to coronary thrombosis (a clot forming in one of the arteries that delivers blood to the heart). If this causes significant damage to heart muscle it could cause heart failure.
*Xanthomas- thick yellow patches on the skin, especially around the eyes. They are, in fact, deposits of cholesterol. This is commonly seen among people who have inherited high cholesterol susceptibility (familial or inherited hypercholesterolaemia).
Hope you got the gist of the causes of high cholesterol ..like and share this post with your friends ...thanks
in my next post I will talk on the dangers and complications of high cholesterol in the body.
Hi Ufuoma. Thanks for your post and blog. However i view this quite differently from you concerning some of your assertions concerning cholesterol. First and foremost LDL is not "bad" cholesterol as every body including u put it.
ReplyDeleteYour dietary intake of foods high in cholesterol has little
or no impact on your serum (blood) levels of cholesterol, however eating too much sat fat from red meat stiffens your cell membranes and as such prevents the ldl cholesterol receptors from taking ldl cholesterol into the cell where it belongs.
Cholesterol is produced by the liver. The LDL is really quite important cholesterol for the production of hormones such as Testosteron. However when there is too much damage on the blood vessels (endothelial cell wall) then the liver produces so much cholesterol which acts as "plaster" to repair these damage (sore or wounds). Unfortunately the body now needs the right nutrients to take this ldl cholesterol (acting like plaster) out of the blood vessels, but d nutrients are not coming. So unfortunately the cholesterol has to stay there so building up in the blood stream. Mind you the LDL cholesterol was only trying to help in the first place.
On the backdrop of this, the first question we should be asking ourselfs is what causes these endothelial cells to get damage in the first place. The answer is FD (free radicals) which unfortunately leads to chronic inflammation on the walls of our blood vessels. If you are keen on understanding the inflammatory response system then add me on facebook and check videos on my wall. Start from video 1a to video 1e. Any questions get in touch.