Hypercholesterolemia is a condition in which, the body has more LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) than what is good for the person. This leads to a condition called atherosclerosis, which becomes a risk factor for cardiovascular disease that in turn triggers heart attacks or brain strokes. There are various causes and risk-factors for hypercholesterolemia. Not only is the condition treatable, but also the good news is that with lifestyle changes, it can be prevented completely. In this article, we will discuss more.
Cholesterol is a soft and waxy kind of lipid (or fat) found in the body. It is produced naturally by the liver and is required by every cell of the body. It is required to secrete certain hormones, to create cell membranes and to form Vitamin D in the body. The cholesterol so produced by the liver is transported to every cell of the body through the blood. Cholesterol does not naturally dissolve in water or blood, so it is transported through the blood using a kind of protein called lipoprotein produced by the body. Think of the lipoprotein as a car that is used to transport cholesterol which is riding on it.
Cholesterol can also be absorbed from the foods we consume. Foods that are rich in saturated fats, transfats and animal fats are high in cholesterol, so a diet high in such foods can spike the cholesterol levels in the body.
At this juncture, it is important to note that there are 3 kinds of fats or lipids in the body:
When we say exercise burns fat or calories, what is happening is that the excess triglycerides are consumed as fuel and in the process broken down by the body. So also, the HDL cholesterol becomes more active and efficient in pulling the LDL cholesterol to the liver for breaking down. That is why exercise is good while a sedentary lifestyle is risky, for anybody.
Hyperlipidemia is an umbrella name for a condition in which there is excess of fat in the body which is not good for the person. It is a set of 2 conditions:
When the person suffers from only an excess of LDL-C, (s)he is diagnosed with ‘hypercholesterolemia’ and the term hyperlipidemia does not feature in the report.
So how much fat is too much? Hypercholesterolemia is declared by the doctors when:
The person who is at high risk of a cardiovascular event should have a target LDL-C level in the range 70-116 mg/dL.
Familial: Here, the genes responsible for removing LDL-C from the blood have mutated over a couple of generations and the person has inherited them now. This again is of 4 types:
Acquired: This develops when the person has been consuming a diet rich in sugar, saturated fats and transfats over a long time. Such sources of food include red-meat, high-fat dairy, palm and coconut oils, fast foods, fried foods and hydrogenated vegetable oils.
Other than the causes mentioned above, risk factors include:
The primary outcome of Hypercholesterolemia is atherosclerosis which is a hardening of blood-vessel walls and narrowing of blood-vessels, due to plaque formation on the blood-vessels walls (happens when LDL-C starts depositing on these walls). Atherosclerosis in turn can cause one or more of these:
The points mentioned above under diet, exercise, stress, tobacco and alcohol, also help in preventing the onset of hypercholesterolemia in people who do not have the condition presently.
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