High cholesterol is one of the most prevalent issues of today. We eat a lot of things without even thinking that they can lead to a higher level of cholesterol. Having too much cholesterol in the body can lead to a number of health problems. Here are some of the illnesses you may have to suffer if you don’t keep cholesterol levels in control.
Coronary Heart Disease
Every person with a high level of cholesterol in his body is at a high risk of suffering from coronary heart disease. That happens because the high levels of cholesterol cause build up inside the walls of arteries. This build-up turns into plaque over time and hardens the arteries, which causes them to slowly become narrower and restrict the flow of blood to heart muscles.
This can result in chest pain and cause a heart when the arteries are completely blocked. Men are expected to live an average of 6.7 years and women an average of 7.9 years if they get coronary heart disease at the age of 50.
High Blood Pressure
When high cholesterol starts to make the arteries narrower with the plaque build-up, the blood has to flow at a higher pressure. The blood barely passes through the artery, and it is unable to reach around the body at the same rate. This way, high cholesterol causes high blood pressure, and both of them combined can do a lot of damage to the body. Luckily, you can take tablets like Simvastatin and make lifestyle changes to lower your cholesterol back to normal.
Stroke
Arteries clogged by high cholesterol could also include the ones that supply blood to the brain. In this case, the patient might have a stroke because the brain isn’t getting enough blood. This kind of stroke is called Ischemic Stroke. To avoid such an issue, you should make sure that the LDL cholesterol level doesn’t get any higher than 130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). Feeling severe headache, difficulty in walking and talking, and numbness in the body are warning signs of a stroke.
Diabetes
Diabetes also has a complicated relationship with cholesterol and heart disease. It can cause changes in the levels of LDL and HDL cholesterol in your body. If you have diabetes, the LDL particles can damage your blood vessels’ walls. Furthermore, a type of sugar molecule binds itself with specific proteins to allow cholesterol to travel through the blood, increasing its levels.
1 comment
Very interesting!