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What Are The Side Effects Of High Cholesterol

Top 6 Side Effects Of High Cholesterol On Body Are Revealed

Side Effects of Cholesterol-lowering Statin Drugs

Cholesterol is a waxy fat that is necessary for the growth of healthy cells. However, too much cholesterol may cause atherosclerosis, heart attack, and more. Recently, VKool.com made a writing of top 6 side effects of high cholesterol on the body. This writing is a collection of useful information about high cholesterol and its negative effects on health from reliable sources. However, it is not intended to give medical advice and it is solely for the informational purpose. Keep reading this writing to learn more!

Ways To Prevent High Cholesterol

You can prevent high cholesterol the same way you can help lower itby living a healthy lifestyle focused on a heart-healthy diet and exercise. Other strategies that can help prevent high cholesterol include:

  • Quitting smoking
  • Getting enough good quality sleep
  • Limit alcohol intake

However, if you have familial hypercholesterolemia, you may not be able to prevent it. You can work with your doctor to detect it early and manage it to prevent complications.

Diagnosis Of High Cholesterol

In most cases, your doctor will find your high cholesterol through routine screening. A lipid panel usually measures total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol.

Your doctor may order other tests to help decide whether medicines are needed to lower your risk of heart and blood vessel diseases. These may include a coronary calcium scan, which uses computed tomography to detect calcium deposits in the arteries of your heart, and blood tests for levels of C-reactive protein and lipoprotein-a.

The American Heart Association recommends routine cholesterol screening for all adults after age 20, but your doctor may order lipid tests more often based on your individual and family risk.

Your doctor will ask about your eating habits, physical activity, family history, medicines you are taking, and risk factors for heart or blood vessel diseases. During your physical exam, your doctor will check for signs of very high blood cholesterol, such as xanthomas, or signs of other health conditions that can cause high blood cholesterol.

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What Is High Cholesterol

High cholesterol is when there’s too much bad cholesterol and/or not enough good cholesterol in your blood.

This picture shows what it looks like if you have low cholesterol, normal cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels.

Sometimes health professionals talk about the terms dyslipidaemia and hyperlipidaemia. Both are clinical terms that mean your levels of cholesterol are outside the normal range.

Symptoms of high cholesterol

You won’t know if you have high cholesterol because it doesn’t usually have symptoms. The only way to know is to have a blood test.

Why does high cholesterol matter?

When your cholesterol is too high it can build up as plaque in your arteries. If the plaque gets too big, or breaks off, it can cause a heart attack and stroke. This risk also increases when your triglycerides are too high.

Your doctor will use the results of your blood test and your other heart attack risk factors to decide whether you need medication to lower your cholesterol or triglyceride levels.

Does Vascepa Thin The Blood

Healthy Mommy

Vascepa is the brand name of the prescription medicine icosapent ethyl, which is used along with diet and exercise to lower levels of triglycerides in the blood. Vascepa is thought to work by decreasing the amount of triglycerides and other fats made in the liver.

Is vascepa a statin?

Vascepa and Lipitor are used to lower high triglycerides . Vascepa is a type of omega-3 fatty acid and Lipitor is an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor . Side effects of Vascepa that are different from Lipitor include joint pain and sore throat.

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How Is High Cholesterol Diagnosed

A cholesterol blood test gives important information about the amount and types of fats in the bloodstream. Types of fats include cholesterol and triglycerides.

Triglycerides are the most common form of fat in your body. Triglycerides are produced by your body and also come from the food you eat. When you eat, your body converts unused calories into triglycerides. The triglycerides are stored in your fat cells and are released for energy in between meals.

If you regularly eat more calories than you burn, this may lead to high levels of triglycerides. If the levels of triglycerides in your blood are too high, they can affect your blood cholesterol levels.

Lipid Panel Tests To Screen For High Blood Cholesterol

A lipid panel usually measures total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HDL cholesterol. Your test results may also show the level of non-HDL cholesterol, which includes all fats that raise your risk of heart and blood vessels diseases. It may also include a test for triglycerides.

Ask your doctor if you need to fast before a lipid panel. This means you do not eat or drink anything except water for 9 to 12 hours before your visit. Ask your doctor about taking your medicines before the test.

How often you get a lipid panel done depends on your age, risk factors, and family history of high blood cholesterol or cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis, heart attack or stroke. Here is a general guide:

  • Age 19 or younger. Screening begins at ages 9 to 11 and should be repeated every 5 years. Screening may be performed as early as age 2 if there is a family history of high blood cholesterol, heart attack, or stroke.
  • Age 20 to 65. Younger adults should be screened every 5 years. Men ages 45 to 65 and women ages 55 to 65 should be screened every 1 to 2 years.
  • Older than 65. Older adults should be screened every year.

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How Is High Cholesterol Linked To Diabetes

LDL cholesterol negatively influences the health of diabetes patients. This is because individuals who have diabetes have high cholesterol as LDL cholesterol sticks to the blood vessels and arteries walls.

Then, glucose further attaches itself to the lipoproteins. This formation makes the glucose particles stay in the system for a long duration, finally forming plaque.

Lifestyle Approaches Is The Best Choice In Long Term

Side Effects of Cholesterol Drugs (Lipitor) & Safe Natural Alternatives

Again, medical interventions mentioned before are commonly used to treat high cholesterol when the problem doesnt respond to lifestyle approaches. These options are also usually necessary when your doctor think that your cholesterol too high and should be lowered immediately.

Since these options can cause side effects, they are not commonly prescribed to be used in long term unless if you have certain health conditions and your doctor believe that the advantages of taking certain medical intervention in long term are greater than the potential of side effects that may occur.

The takeaway, your doctor should have a strong medical reason when he or she recommends you to take a cholesterol medication in long term.

Weight control

We all agree that its very important to get and stay at your best shape and weight. Its not only about your physical appearance but the most important thing is to improve your overall health, including for lowering your risk of high cholesterol.

In general, there are two crucial things you need to concern to lose weight boost your physical activity and appropriately cut your calories intake.

If you are being overweight, visit here for more detailed information on how weight loss can help lower your LDL!

Appropriate dietary approaches

There are many foods high in saturated fats and cholesterol that can trigger your LDL to rise. But fortunately, you also have plenty options of healthy foods that can help boost your HDL and lower your LDL.

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The Long Term Effects Of High Cholesterol

High cholesterol is one of the most common health issues that is found in adults. While there are some individuals who dont take it seriously, the diagnosis of high cholesterol is something that requires immediate action. The longer high cholesterol goes without treatment, the worse the effects on your body will be. Many assume that high cholesterol is harmless in the long run, but in fact the opposite is quite true.

Studies show that the average Americans cholesterol level is in the borderline high range, and 1 in 6 Americans has high cholesterol. High cholesterol can lead to stomach pain from fatty deposits, atherosclerosis, and an increased strain on your heart. However, the two largest effects that a high cholesterol can have on your body are the increased chance of a stroke or a heart attack.

If there is a clog in one of your coronary artery, your heart doesnt receive enough blood or oxygen. This ends up weakening your heart and creates long term damage. This can lead to a few things. A blood clot could form blocking the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart, it could also break off and make its way to one of your arteries. Once an artery is completely blocked, you have a heart attack.

Increased Risk Of Heart Attack

According to Goodson, atherosclerosis can happen over time and lead to severe issues with your heart and brain, but there are unfortunately no detectable symptoms.

“If a piece of plaque does break off, it can cause a blood clot to form around it, restricting blood flow to the heart and starving it of necessary oxygen and nutrients, which is called ischemia,” says Goodson. “This, unfortunately, can lead to a heart attack.”

Goodson also says it’s important to be aware of heart attack symptoms and immediately seek emergency medical care if you experience any.

“These symptoms include tightness, squeezing, fullness, pain, or aching in the chest or arms, shortness of breath, anxiousness, trouble breathing, dizziness, and excessive fatigue,” says Goodson.

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So How Do You Lower Your Cholesterol

This list of side effects may feel ominous, but the good news is that there are ways of controlling your cholesterol levels and decreasing your risk of these potential health complications.

According to Goodson, these are a few key things you can do to lower your cholesterol:

  • First, start exercising a few days a week, but be sure to talk to your doctor before you start.
  • Increase your intake of soluble fiber like oats and foods made with oat flour, nuts, and seeds, and fruits where you can eat the skin like apples, pears and berries.
  • Finally, try losing weight if you need, because weight loss can help lower cholesterol and improve overall health.

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Increased Risk Of Stroke

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Unfortunately, a build-up of plaque in your arteries not only restricts blood flow to your heart, but can also restrict the flow to your brain as well.

“This build-up over time can lead to stroke,” says Goodson. “Symptoms for this include loss of balance and coordination, sudden dizziness, confusion, slurring words, numbness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body, or blurred vision.”

If you experience any of these symptoms, seek emergency medical care immediately.

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Neurological Side Effects Including Memory Loss

Memory loss and mental confusion occur in some patients taking statin medications. The effects may begin in as little as one day after starting the medication or can take years to show any mental effects. Talk to your doctor if you feel your mental judgment has become cloudy while taking cholesterol medications. Stopping these medications may pose a greater risk to your cardiovascular system.

Psck9 Inhibitors Can Lower Your Ldl Cholesterol: A Lot

PSCK9 inhibitors may be a good choice for people with an inherited form of high cholesterol. These new drugs can lower dangerous LDL levels by half or more. The drugs costs are high, but the health care industry is working with manufacturers and pharmacists to bring the price down and make PSCK9 inhibitors available to more people.

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Research For Your Health

The NHLBI is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health the Nations biomedical research agency that makes important scientific discoveries to improve health and save lives. We are committed to advancing science and translating discoveries into clinical practice to promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders, including high blood cholesterol. Learn about current and future NHLBI efforts to improve health through research and scientific discovery.

So Are Statins Worth It

ATORVASTATIN (LIPITOR) FOR HIGH CHOLESTEROL | What are the Side Effects?

It depends on who you are, what your cardiovascular risk is, and the possible benefits.

At a population level, this is something known as the number needed to treat . Or, to put it another way, how many people have to take statins to prevent one heart attack?

For people with a low risk for cardiovascular disease, 217 people would have to take a statin to prevent one non-fatal heart attack. So 217 is the NNT. But when you look at people with a high risk for cardiovascular disease, only 39 people have to take a statin to prevent one non-fatal heart attack. So the NNT for high-risk people is much lower than for low-risk people.

The higher your risk of cardiovascular disease, the more the benefits of statins outweigh the risks of side effects.

The professional guidelines and the online risk estimator go a long way toward identifying people who should take a statin. But each person is unique. The information here should be a starting point for discussion rather than a final answer. Talk with your healthcare provider to make a decision on whether you should take a statin.

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What Are High Cholesterol Medications

Statins are a category of drugs that is used to help lower cholesterol levels in the blood. These high cholesterol medications prevent heart diseases and stroke. Statins reduce the impact of heart attack strokes and death from heart disease by 25-35 percent. Statins also lower the chances of recurrent heart attacks or strokes.

What Are Cholesterol Medications With Least Side Effects

When it comes to lowering cholesterol with medical intervention, there is a chance for this option to cause some side effects. But if you are looking for cholesterol medications with least side effects, lifestyle approaches and heart-healthy diet are the best answer you should prioritize. These approaches are not only good in helping to lower your LDL but also great ones for your entire health in long term.

Unfortunately, sometimes lifestyle approaches are not enough to help deal with. In such case, medical intervention is required.

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Bad Cholesterol And Diabetes

In diabetes, a healthy balance between high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein is disturbed in the body. People with diabetes have more chances of retaining bad cholesterol in the body. The bad cholesterol adheres to their arteries and damages their walls. It makes diabetic people more prone to serious heart diseases.

Getting A Cholesterol Test

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A blood sample is taken that will be used to determine the amount of bad cholesterol , good cholesterol and other fatty substances in your blood.

You may be asked not to eat for 10-12 hours before the cholesterol test, usually including when you’re asleep at night. This ensures that all food is completely digested and won’t affect the outcome of the test.

Your GP or practice nurse can carry out the cholesterol test and will take a blood sample, either using a needle and a syringe or by pricking your finger.

A newer type of test that measures non-high-density lipoprotein is now sometimes used because it’s thought to be a more accurate way of estimating cardiovascular disease risk than LDL.

Non-HDL cholesterol is total cholesterol minus HDL cholesterol. It’s also not necessary to fast before the test, so it is more convenient.

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Cholesterol In The Body

Cholesterol is needed in the body for the proper functioning of nerves and hormonal balance. It is important to keep a check on fat consumption for healthy cholesterol levels. A high cholesterol diet, inactive lifestyle and smoking increase the bad cholesterol levels in the body, which gives rise to many serious health issues.

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Is High Cholesterol Dangerous

High cholesterol is just one of several risk factors for coronary heart disease. A health-care professional will consider a person’s overall risk when assessing their cholesterol levels and discussing treatment options.

Risk factors are conditions that increase a person’s risk for developing heart disease. Some risk factors can be changed and others cannot. In general, the more risk factors a person has, the greater the chance of developing coronary heart disease. Some risk factors can be controlled however, some cannot be controlled.

Risk factors that cannot be controlled include:

  • Age
  • Family history of early heart disease

Risk factors that can be controlled include:

  • High blood cholesterol
  • Low HDL cholesterol

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Plaque Can Build Up In The Arteries

“Over time, high cholesterol increases plaque build-up in the arteries, which can restrict blood flow to the brain and heart, potentially leading to dire consequences like heart attack and stroke,” says Goodson.

According to the American Heart Association, this plaque build-up is called atherosclerosis. Not only can it lead to restricted blood flow, but plaque can also break off and get stuck in the bloodstream, which is another way an artery could be blocked.

This risk of artery blockage is the foundation for the rest of the side effects of having high cholesterol after 50.

Why Are People With High Cholesterol More Likely To Get Covid

Should I Take Statin Drugs For Elevated Cholesterol? Are There Side Effects?

High cholesterol is an independent risk factor for heart health. COVID-19 infection heightens the possibility of having a heart attack or stroke. High cholesterol levels have also been associated with increased coagulopathies in those with COVID-19. As such, BMI and LDL cholesterol have become important metrics alongside other known characteristics such as age and ethnicity in the risk assessment of vulnerability to COVID-19 infection.

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