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How To Lower Familial High Cholesterol

Fenugreek Seeds For Bad Cholesterol

Managing Patients with High LDL Cholesterol or Familial Hypercholesterolemia

If you are interested in knowing, how to reduce cholesterol without medication then fenugreek seeds are right choice. Fenugreek seeds come with some components that reduce the absorption of cholesterol by the body, which comes from the rich in fats.

Fenugreek seeds are rich in minerals like calcium, selenium, and zinc. Also, fenugreek seeds are loaded with vitamins A, B, and C.taking fenugreek seeds daily can also reduce the risk of heart attack by 25%.

Who Is Most At Risk For Fh

Familial hypercholesterolemia can affect anyone whose family carries the genetic mutation. However, its found more frequently in those who are of French Canadian, Ashkenazi Jewish, Lebanese or Afrikaner descent. The biggest problem with FH is that more than 90% of people who have it havent been diagnosed, which means you should pay careful attention to your family history,

Seth Martin, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Advanced Lipid Disorders Center.

If people in your family have had heart attacks, needed stents or had bypass surgery earlier in life before age 55 in men and before 65 in women those are signals that theres something causing your family to be at higher risk for heart disease, he explains. It could be familial hypercholesterolemia.

What Are The Types Of Cholesterol

Cholesterol in the blood doesn’t move through the body on its own. It combines with proteins to travel through the bloodstream. Cholesterol and protein traveling together are called lipoproteins .

Low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein are the lipoproteines that most of us have heard about.

Low-density lipoproteins, or “bad cholesterol,” can build up on the walls of the arteries. Cholesterol and other substances in the blood form plaque . Plaque buildup can make blood vessels become stiffer, narrower, or blocked. Plaque makes it easier for blood clots to form. A blood clot can block a narrowed artery and cause a heart attack or stroke.

Atherosclerosis , or hardening of the arteries, also leads to decreased blood flow to vital organs, including the brain, intestines, and kidneys.

High-density lipoproteins, or “good cholesterol,” carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver. In the liver, cholesterol is broken down and removed from the body.

High levels of LDL and low levels of HDL increase a person’s risk of heart disease.

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Lowering Ldl With A Heart Healthy Diet

When it comes to diet, there is not one perfect diet. The best diet is a healthy one that a person can stick with. One exception to this for many people with genetic cholesterol disorders is the currently popular ketogenic keto diet. The ketogenic diet high in saturated fat can lead to dramatic increases in LDL-C. In general, this diet should be avoided by persons with genetically elevated LDL-C.

A general rule of thumb is to fill 1/2 your dinner plate with healthy vegetables, ¼ of the plate can be comprised of foods from the healthy protein category and the other ¼ of the plate should consist of healthy whole grains or starchy vegetables. Let’s take a look at healthy choices, and what foods should be avoided.

What Percentage Of High Cholesterol Is Genetic

Pin on Bad Cholesterol

While about one in three Americans has high cholesterol, only about one in 200 adults has FH. Counting children, it affects an estimated 1.3 million Americans however, about 90% of cases are undiagnosed. A vast majority of high cholesterol cases are due to other factors, such as diet and lifestyle.

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What Causes High Ldl Cholesterol

High LDL cholesterol levels are primarily driven by poor dietary habits, explains Eugene Yang, chair of the American College of Cardiology’s Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease Section Leadership Council and professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

The Western diettypically high in things like unhealthy saturated fatsencourages elevated LDL cholesterol levels.

With the increasing availability of fast and processed foods, high cholesterol is a trend that’s on the rise worldwide.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, the number of deaths attributed to high LDL cholesterol grew by almost one million between 1990 and 2017. This research also shows a drastic shift in cholesterol-related death rates from high-income regions to middle- or low-income countries, particularly in Asia.

But diet isn’t the only culprit. Genetics can influence a person’s risk for having high LDL cholesteroland the heart problems that can occur as a result.

Dr. Yang explains that about one in 250 people has what’s called familial hypercholesterolemia, a genetic mutation that affects their ability to clear LDL cholesterol from their body.

This predisposes people to levels of cholesterol that are higher than the average person. As a result, they’re up to 22 times more likely to have coronary heart disease, according to the CDC.

Orange Juice For Bad Cholesterol

Orange Juce naturally reduce bad cholesterol. Orange juice is rich in vitamin c and flavonoids. Drinking two glasses of plant sterol-fortified orange juice per day can lower the cholesterol level by up to 11% of the total.

You do not need to make plans to lower your cholesterol levels drink two glasses of sterol-fortified orange juice per day, and you will see a gradual increase of good cholesterol and a decrease in bad cholesterol levels.

So load up your kitchen with orange juice and make it a habit to drink at least 750 ML of orange juice in a day if your medical reports are showing your cholesterol level higher than the normal range.

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How Genetics Impact Your Cholesterol Levels

“Many people inherit genes from their parents that cause them to have too much cholesterol,” says Dr. Sadi Raza, MD, a cardiologist practicing in Dallas. This disorder is known as familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH. “FH is dangerous because it can cause premature atherosclerosis, and thus heart disease and strokes at a younger than expected age,” he explains. Your doctor can order a test that will detect the presence of the disorder.

It is hard to say to what degree genetics matter more than lifestyle, but regardless, you should change your lifestyle to decrease your risk.

“I will say this: If you have a strong genetic predisposition for elevated cholesterol, it is even more important to have good lifestyle habits because the effect is additive and compounds the issue,” Dr. Raza says.

“Genetics can play a strong role in your risk for high cholesterol by increasing the amount produced by the liver and so in those who have high cholesterol but also have a healthy lifestyle, it’s more likely that genes are at play,” says Kelly Jones MS, RD, CSSD, LDN.

While we need cholesterol, high levels of these lipoproteins can mean build up of plaque in the arteries and an increased risk of heart attack. A blood test will measure HDL and LDL levels, where HDL is the “good” kind of cholesterol and LDL is the “bad” kind.

“HDL should be above 40 for men and 50 for women, while it’s desirable for LDL to be below 100, and total cholesterol should be between 125 and 200 mg/dL,” Jones says.

Natural Remedies And Lowering Cholesterol

What is familial hypercholesterolemia and inherited high cholesterol

Its very important to talk to your health professional before using any:

  • supplements
  • natural remedies
  • or complementary therapies.

Sometimes they can do more harm than good. They may interact with any medication that youre taking, which can be dangerous. They can also make your medication less effective. Your doctor needs to know everything that you are taking to ensure that the combination is safe.

If youve been prescribed cholesterol-lowering medication, make sure you take it as directed by your doctor. This is one of the most effective ways to keep your cholesterol levels down.

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What Is The Treatment For Familial Hypercholesterolemia

The overall goal of treatment is to lower the risk for atherosclerotic heart disease by lowering the LDL cholesterol levels in the blood stream. Atherosclerosis is a condition in which fatty material collects along the walls of arteries. This fatty material thickens, hardens, and may eventually block the arteries. Atherosclerosis happens when fat and cholesterol and other substances build up in the arteries and form a hardened material called plaque. The plaque deposits make the arteries less flexible and more difficult for blood to flow leading to heart attack and stroke.

The first step in treatment for an individual who has heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia is changing the diet to reduce the total amount of fat eaten to 30 percent of the total daily calories. This can be done by limiting the amount of beef, pork, and lamb in the diet cutting out butter, whole milk and fatty cheeses as well as some oils like coconut and palm oils and eliminating egg yolks, organ meats and other sources of saturated fat from animals. Dietary counseling is often recommended to help people to make these changes in their eating habits.

Exercise, especially to lose weight, may also help in lowering cholesterol levels.

How To Use Fenugreek Seeds For Cholesterol

Easy steps

  • Take two ounces of fenugreek seeds daily, along with water.
  • Alternatively,

    • Take some leaves of fenugreek seeds and add them to your salad every day.
    • You can also use these seeds as spices for various recipes.
    • You can add the leaves of fenugreek seeds in your recipes as herbs.

    Note- I recommend soaking the seeds overnight so that the bitter taste goes away.

    The leaves of fenugreek are not bitter you can use them in whatever quantity you want. They come along with pleasing taste and aroma.

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    What Causes High Cholesterol

    Three major things contribute to high cholesterol levels:

  • diet: eating a diet high in fats, particularly saturated fat and trans fat
  • heredity: having a parent or close family member with high cholesterol
  • obesity: having a poor diet and not exercising
  • People who are physically active, eat healthy foods, don’t have a family history of high cholesterol or heart disease, and aren’t overweight are less likely to have high cholesterol.

    Apple Cider Vinegar For Bad Cholesterol

    Familial hypercholesterolemia

    How to reduce bad cholesterol in body with ACV? Yes, From high blood pressure to upper respiratory infections, apple cider vinegar is used to treat many human bodies problems.

    Apple cider vinegar is one of the best home remedies for the treatment of high cholesterol.

    Well, I know the taste is not good, but you can add it to some juices like apple grape or any other fruit juices and make the taste better for a better taste. This remedy starts showing improvements in your cholesterol level in approx one month.

    Easy steps

    Also Read: Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar and Uses in Daily Life

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    Dietary Factors That Tend To Elevate Ldl Cholesterol

    Saturated Fat

    Dietary saturated fat intake has been shown to increase LDL cholesterol. Saturated fats occur naturally in many foods dairy products, meat/seafood, and eggs contain both saturated fat and cholesterol. Dairy products are the leading source of saturated fat in Western diets. Avoidance of even low-fat dairy products is helpful for control of lipids, given that these cause small but significant increases in LDL.

    Plant-based foods that contain saturated fats include coconut, coconut oil, coconut milk, and cocoa butter, as well as palm oil and palm kernel oil. Despite intense commercial promotion of some of these products, their effect on blood lipids is similar to that of animal-derived saturated fat. Coconut oil proponents try to argue that coconut oil has medium chain triglycerides which are shorter-chain saturated fats that arent as bad as the longer-chain saturated fats in meat and dairy. But you cant apply the MCT research to coconut oil. MCTs make up only about 10% of coconut oil. The majority of coconut oil is the LDL-raising longer-chain saturated fats, lauric and myristic.

    Trans Fat

    Unfiltered Coffee

    Lifestyle And Home Remedies

    Healthy-lifestyle habits also can help reduce the risk of heart disease, and some may lower your cholesterol:

    • Lose extra pounds. Losing weight can help lower cholesterol.
    • Eat a heart-healthy diet. Focus on plant-based foods, including fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Limit saturated fats and trans fats.
    • Exercise regularly. With your doctor’s OK, work up to at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five times a week.
    • Don’t smoke. If you smoke, find a way to quit.

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    There Are Three Main Genes Or Sets Of Genes Which Can Be Involved In Fh

    Our liver cells and many other cells in our bodies have small structures attached to them called LDL receptors. They have an important job in keeping blood cholesterol down.

    When LDL cholesterol in the blood passes by, it attaches to an LDL receptor which takes it into the cell. The cholesterol is used or stored for later, or broken down by liver cells. The LDL receptor then returns to the surface of the cell, ready to bind to more cholesterol in the blood.

    With FH, the liver cells cant take LDL out of your blood. And this is down to faults or mutations in a few specific genes.

    LDL receptor genes

    Most people with FH have a fault in one of these genes. It means you dont have enough LDL receptors, so cholesterol builds up in the blood.

    APOB gene

    Only two or three out of every 100 people with FH have a fault with this gene. It means LDL cholesterol cant bind well to LDL receptors. LDL is taken out of the blood too slowly, and cholesterol in the blood stays high.

    PCSK9 gene

    Only a few people have this type of FH. A fault with this gene means that LDL receptors are broken down in the liver, so they cant take cholesterol out of your blood.

    Lowering Cholesterol Naturally Why Its So Difficult For People With Fh

    Familial Hypercholesterolemia (High Cholesterol Levels)

    Lifestyle changes such as exercising and eating a healthy diet are the first line of defense against high cholesterol. Unfortunately for people with the genetic disorder Familial Hypercholesterolemia , lowering cholesterol naturally is not enough. Medical treatment and medication, or a combination of medications, are necessary to manage the dangerously high cholesterol levels that put these patients at risk for early and aggressive heart disease.

    Cholesterol and the Body

    Our bodies have a complicated relationship with cholesterol. Cholesterol does important work, including helping to develop the membranes of cells, composing bile, which digests food in the intestines, and allowing the body to make Vitamin D and vital hormones, including estrogen and testosterone . In fact, cholesterol is so important that much of the cholesterol in our blood doesnt come from the food we eat it is produced by cells in the body. The liver is responsible for synthesizing and removing cholesterol, making it central to cholesterol level regulation.

    The Challenge of FH

    For people who dont have FH, high cholesterol is often the result of unhealthy lifestyle choices. Lowering cholesterol naturally by eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, not smoking and limiting exposure to secondhand smoke is often the only treatment they need.

    When Lowering Cholesterol Naturally Isnt Enough

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    How Do You Know If Your High Cholesterol Is Genetic

    If you’re found to have high cholesterol, your doctor will ask whether there’s any family history of the condition. If there is, this can be a first clue that your case is FH. The only way to conclusively know, however, is through genetic testing and counseling. Doctors look for mutations of the genes LDLR, LDLRAP1, APOB, or PCSK9, which help regulate cholesterol levels.

    However, in about 20% to 30% of FH cases, standard genetic testing is unable to find the faulty gene. As such, negative results do not necessarily rule out a diagnosis.

    What Is The Role Of Cholesterol In The Body

    Cholesterol is necessary for making cell membranes, hormones, and vitamin D. LDLs act like taxis in the body, helping cholesterol travel throughout the bloodstream and dropping if off where it is needed. Once the work has been done, the other type of cholesterol, called high-density lipoprotein known as the good cholesterolabsorbs the remaining cholesterol and carries it to the liver, where it is processed out of the body.

    When too much LDL cholesterol is in the body, it accumulates on the blood vessel walls, forming a yellowish, waxy layer called plaque. This can cause the vessel walls to shrink or harden , which can lead to coronary artery disease . A buildup can also block blood vessels, leading to a heart attack or stroke at a very young age. While everyone is at risk of plaque buildup as they grow older, a person with FH will have unusually high levels of LDL cholesterol from birth and so the damaging accumulation begins much earlier in life.

    FH is one of the more common genetic disorders in the U.S., affecting an estimated 1 in 250 people. FH is whats known as an autosomal dominant disorder, which means that a child has a 50 percent chance of inheriting a mutated gene from a parent who has the mutation. If left untreated, the genetic condition can significantly increase a persons risk of developing atherosclerosis . The good news is that most FHs can be treated and managed well with cholesterol-lowering medications and regular screening checkups.

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    Medicines To Lower Your Cholesterol Level

    Medicines called statins are most often used to lower cholesterol levels. There are other cholesterol-lowering medicines that your doctor might prescribe, like resins, fibrates, and niacin. If you need to take a medicine to lower your cholesterol level, your doctor will help you find the one that works best for you.

    Estrogen replacement therapy lowers your bad cholesterol level and raises your good cholesterol level. However, studies have not shown that it lowers the risk of heart disease.

    What Are Symptoms Of Familial Hypercholesterolemia

    Lowcholesterolrecipes Is Hdl Cholesterol Hereditary? What ...

    Regular cholesterol screening is the best way to detect the most prominent signs or symptoms of this condition, which is high LDL cholesterol levels. Other common signs of this condition include the following:

    • Family history of high total and LDL cholesterol levels and/or early heart attack
    • High LDL cholesterol levels that do not respond well to medications
    • Chest pain
    • Cholesterol deposits in the eyelids that usually dont cause any problems
    • Cholesterol buildup in the skin or tendons that can be painful, depending where on the body they appear
    • Cholesterol around the cornea of the eye, which doesnt interfere with vision

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