“I have high cholesterol”
You do your annual set of tests and the conclusion is that you have high cholesterol. But what does that mean? You seem to remember hearing something about bad cholesterol and good cholesterol: what’s the deal with them? Triglycerides are also on the report, but what is it about, what do triglycerides do?
You, the patients, receive the conclusion of the analyzes possibly accompanied by additions such as: “You must give up eating fatty meat, fried foods, alcohol, etc.” or “Cholesterol increased due to stress; try to reduce stressors etc.”.
At the moment, you mobilize and follow the doctor’s recommendations: reduce the consumption of contraindicated foods, adopt a form of physical movement, etc., but this change lasts a few days/weeks, after which you return to your old habits.
To understand the importance of maintaining lifestyle and dietary changes in normalizing cholesterol and triglycerides, let’s first see what they are, what their role is in the body, and where you can go if the values are outside the reference ranges for a while long time.
When we talk about cholesterol and triglycerides, we are actually referring to fats (lipids – a diverse group of molecules that have one characteristic in common: at least some of them are insoluble in water) that are found in the blood.
Information about cholesterol
Cholesterol is an essential lipid substance in:
cell production- is part of the composition of the outer layer of the membrane of any cell in the body; “construction” of some hormones: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol and vitamin D.
There are two sources of cholesterol:
The liver – produces the necessary cholesterol by itself; Food – products of animal origin (meat, eggs, etc.).
The ratio between them is 80% liver production and 20% comes from food.
On the analysis reports you will notice three parameters: total serum cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. These parameters together with triglycerides “form” the lipid profile. The lipid profile is a reference analysis in the assessment of the risk of cardiovascular diseases. In Romania, 60% of deaths are caused by cardiovascular diseases!
LDL colesterol
LDL cholesterol is also called “bad cholesterol”, and LDL is the abbreviation for “Low Density Lipoprotein”, this form of cholesterol representing 60-70% of total serum cholesterol.
LDL transports cholesterol from the liver to the tissues through the arteries (blood vessels that carry blood from the heart to the other organs, tissues, etc., but when there is a high level of LDL there is a major risk of cholesterol deposition on the walls of the arteries resulting in the formation of plaques of atheroma, a factor that also leads to the narrowing of blood vessels.
The maximum value for LDL cholesterol should be 130 mg/dl in the case of healthy people, and in the case of patients with diseases of the heart, blood vessels or diabetes the maximum value of LDL cholesterol should be 100 mg/dl.
On the analysis report, the LDL cholesterol values can be:
LDL-cholesterol 100 mg/dl 130 mg/dl 160 mg/dl LDL-cholesterol> 190 mg/dl- very high values.
LDL cholesterol values are influenced by the lifestyle adopted by each of us.
The factors that lead to the increase in values are:
Lack of physical activity/ sedentary lifestyle; Diet rich in red meat, sausages, fast food products, high-fat dairy products; Smoking; Large waist circumference: men > 101 cm, women > 89 cm.
Along with these factors there are also factors that depend on:
Family medical history (e.g. relative diagnosed with hypercholesterolemia); Age – with increasing age, the risk of atheroma plaque formation/cholesterol deposition on blood vessels increases; Sex of the patient – men are more likely to develop atherosclerosis.
At the same time, LDL cholesterol is high in patients diagnosed with hypertension and diabetes, and patients with kidney, liver and hypothyroidism are at increased risk of having above-average LDL cholesterol values.
Increased values of LDL cholesterol can only be identified by performing blood tests. You will not have symptoms, but if the values remain elevated for a long period of time then there is a risk of triggering serious diseases that can give symptoms such as:
Angina pectoris/chest pain; Myocardial infarction; Cerebrovascular attack (stroke); Blocked arteries in the legs, which leads to pain while walking.
If following blood tests you have abnormal values for LDL cholesterol, contact your doctor to initiate drug treatment (e.g. statins). In addition to treatment, it is essential to make changes in both your diet and other aspects of your lifestyle. The primary recommendations are:
Avoid foods and drinks high in processed sugar; Give up fatty and fried food: frozen, semi-prepared, etc.; Reduce smoking and alcohol consumption; Give up sedentary lifestyle (walk at least 30 minutes a day or ideally at least 10,000 steps/day); Reduce your consumption of baked goods or white flour.
HDL colesterol
HDL cholesterol is also known as “good cholesterol”, and HDL stands for High-Density Lipoprotein. HDL transports cholesterol from the tissues to the liver where it is subsequently eliminated, basically the role of HDL cholesterol is to eliminate excess cholesterol from the body.
A high level of HDL cholesterol leads to increased protection against cardiovascular disease.
Reference values for HDL cholesterol are a minimum of 60 mg/dl for both men and women. Values below 40 mg/dl in men and below 50 mg/dl in women indicate an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
In the case of children and young people, an optimal level of HDL cholesterol is at least 45 mg/dl, and for women over the age of 20, the optimal values are at least 50 mg/dl.
Low values of HDL cholesterol maintained for a long time determine the onset of cardiovascular diseases or the occurrence of events such as: myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral arterial disease.
Before taking blood to determine HDL cholesterol values, it is recommended that the patient follow a few rules:
Do not change anything in the diet three weeks before harvesting; There should be no significant weight variations in the pre-harvest period (minimum 2-3 weeks); The patient will not eat anything for at least 12 hours before the collection and will not consume alcohol for 72 hours before the blood collection.
The factors that lead to the modification (decrease) of HDL cholesterol values are:
family history of cholesterol disorders; family history of myocardial infarction; patients with diabetes/hypertension; Too much weight, for example overweight or obese people; Lack of physical exercise/ sedentary lifestyle; Too little or no intake of Omega-3 fatty acids.
The degree of risk for the development of cardiovascular diseases is calculated as the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL:
Low risk: 3.3-4.4 Medium risk: 4.4-7.1 Moderate risk: 7.1-11 High risk: >11
Maintaining normal HDL cholesterol levels is dependent on keeping LDL cholesterol levels within normal limits.
Information about triglycerides
Triglycerides are fats/lipids found in the blood: the body converts excess calories into triglycerides.
Triglycerides are essential for the body, being transformed into energy used between the main meals of the day for the optimal functioning of the body.
The ideal values of triglycerides must be below 150. Between 150-199 are considered borderline values, between 200-499 is a high level, and values above 500 are very high.
High triglyceride values lead to thickening of artery walls, thus increasing the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke. Triglycerides above normal values can also lead to type 2 diabetes, liver or pancreas diseases.
The low level of triglycerides can be an effect of type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism or malabsorption – the absorption of nutritional components from food, at the level of the small intestine, is deregulated.
If triglycerides have abnormal values, the following changes are recommended:
– weight loss;
– performing aerobic exercises;
– avoiding added sugar (especially products rich in fructose);
– reduction of alcohol consumption;
– additional investigations to identify other undiagnosed chronic diseases.
The lipid profile is used to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease. High levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, along with low levels of HDL cholesterol, are the main risk factors for coronary heart disease.
As a reference, consider the following reference values for:
Colesterol total
LDL colesterol
HDL colesterol ≥60 mg/dl
Trigliceride
Focus on maintaining cholesterol and triglycerides as close to normal as possible to prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease that, once diagnosed, can be controlled with medication but not cured.
To avoid complications, check your lipid profile at least once a year! If you are aware that there are aspects related to nutrition or lifestyle that need to be corrected, take action starting today! If you don’t know how and what needs to be changed, call your family doctor!
2023-06-29 16:51:29
#Lipid #profile #important #understand
