High Cholesterol: Risk to a healthy Life….

To understand high cholesterol, we need to first understand what cholesterol actually is, Cholesterol is a fatlike substance that the body needs to function normally. Every cell in our body contains cholesterol, including the brain, nerves, muscles, skin, liver, intestines, and heart.

Cholesterol is utilized in the body as an ingredient to produce many hormones, vitamin D and also bile acids which help digest fats in our digestive system. These requirements of the body are catered by a very small and optimum level of Cholesterol in the body .In case a person has an an excess level of cholesterol in the body, it will start depositing in the vessels of the body including the very crucial vessels like the ones which serve the brain or heart, hence the risk of having brain stroke or Heart diseases respectively.

Plaque formation is also one major feature of excess cholesterol in the body. These plaques are very dangerous as they can block the blood supply to any major vessel in the body and eventually the area where the blood supply is compromised starts showing symptoms eg: Blockage to the leg arteries causes claudication (pain with walking) due to peripheral artery disease. Carotid artery blockage may cause stroke, and blockage of the coronary arteries leads to angina (chest pain) and heart attack.

One major implication of high body cholesterol which effect patients more than anything is the way it affects the vessels that supply the heart muscle. Coronary Heart Diseases (CHD) is a known stigma of today’s developed societies where fast food and junk eating has led to high cholesterol levels and eventually became a major ignition source for Heart attacks and ischemic heart diseases and also Angina by reducing the blood supply to the heart muscle.

Diseases which can cause High Cholesterol in Body:

There are a number of secondary causes for high cholesterol:

1. Diabetes mellitus
2. Kidney disease
3. Hypothyroidism
4. Cushing’s syndrome
5. Anorexia nervosa
6. Sleep deprivation
7. Family history
8. Diet
9. Body weight
10. Physical activity

It always important to implement healthy life style practices in daily routine as it can prevent the harmful effects of high cholesterol in the body and help maintain a good health. Keeping the reasons for high cholesterol in mind we can try to maintain a good diet routine balance.

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