Saffola Life - Keep Your Heart young

In common parlance, 'Hypercholesterolemia' refers to the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is very important for you to know that this condition is a metabolic disturbance and not a disease in itself. None the less, it has been the contributing factor for many other diseases such as heart problems and high blood pressure.

Another fact that you must know about cholesterol is that it doesn't dissolve in blood but is actually transported in the form of small particles called lipoproteins. Abnormalities in the levels of these lipoproteins are the cause of increased levels of blood cholesterol. Hence, the kind of hypercholesterolemia that a person suffers from depends on the kind of particles he has in excess.

As you must have read earlier, cholesterol (being a waxy substance) transports itself in the blood stream in the form of small particles known as lipoproteins. Your doctor may have often used the terms LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol and HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol with you. These two are the principle variants of lipoproteins in the body.

LDL cholesterol is often referred to as the 'bad cholesterol' because it increases the likelihood of cholesterol getting deposited in your blood vessels. While HDL cholesterol, on the other hand, is the 'good' cholesterol and reduces the chances of cholesterol being deposited in the blood vessels. It is this very mechanism that increases your chances of developing heart conditions due to your increased levels of LDL cholesterol (because of higher deposition of cholesterol on the wall of the blood vessels).

As the level of cholesterol in your blood increases, this is what will usually happen:

• An increased level of cholesterol in your blood will cause a deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels; thus resulting in atherosclerosis
• This automatically causes a reduction in the elasticity of your blood vessels
• As a result of all of the above, the lumen (interior) of the blood vessels gets narrowed down, thus lessening the flow of blood through these vessels
• All of the above increase your risk of contracting heart disease and stroke

When cholesterol has been accumulating in your blood vessels over a period of time, it leads to the formation of plaque. Plaque is a kind of deposition that is comprised of cholesterol, fibrous tissue, calcium and other fatty substances, all of which eventually lead to atherosclerosis. The gradual effect of this is a reduction in the flow of blood through the arteries (blood vessels supplying blood from the heart to the body). As an elevated effect, a total breakdown (rupture) of plaque can occur, giving rise to a number of complications throughout the body.

Another fact that you must know about cholesterol is that it doesn't dissolve in blood but is actually transported in the form of small particles called lipoproteins. Abnormalities in the levels of these lipoproteins are the cause of increased levels of blood cholesterol. Hence, the kind of hypercholesterolemia that a person suffers from depends on the kind of particles he has in excess.

Cholesterol build up can be the cause of a number of illnesses.

Some of these are listed below:

High Blood Pressure: When too much 'bad' cholesterol has accumulated in your blood vessels, it starts blocking the natural flow of blood, thus exerting a lot more force on the walls. When this happens, it results in high blood pressure. Your heart now needs to pump blood against this high pressure, thus making it work twice as hard and giving rise to a number of heart problems.

Some Heart problems

Angina: When the arteries that supply blood to your heart become narrow and clogged, they restrict the flow of blood to your heart, thus giving rise to severe chest pain (angina)

Heart attack: When the blood vessels in your body are clogged with cholesterol, the blood flow becomes considerably slower, thus resulting in a lack of blood being delivered to the heart and giving rise to what we commonly call a heart attack.

Stroke: Too much cholesterol deposition in your blood vessels can have disastrous effects. Like any other organ of the body, when there is a continued interruption in the supply of blood (due to clogged blood vessels) to the brain, over a period of time, it often results in a stroke. Even soaring levels of blood pressure, which have often been associated high cholesterol levels, can result in a mini-stroke (transient ischemic attack, TIA).

Peripheral Artery Disease: When the arteries that supply blood to the legs get clogged due to the collection of plaque, the legs develop severe pains owing to the lack of blood. If this continues, the symptoms can become more severe and take a dangerous turn.

Although medicine hasn't been able to zero in on once sole cause of

hypercholesterolemia, there are quite a few factors that are responsible for its development.

Here's a list:

Heredity: If your family has had a history of high cholesterol, there are very high chances that you might suffer from it too. Research has proved that genetically, you're more susceptible to increased levels of high LDL cholesterol, if your have family history of the same.

Age and Gender: Unlike hypertension, high cholesterol actually does evidently have something to do with age and gender. Research has proof that at the puberty, males are likely to have lower levels of HDL cholesterol and females are likely to have lower levels of LDL cholesterol. However, post the age of 55 yrs, the match is reversed with the levels of LDL cholesterol being higher in females than males.

Diet: As far as your diet is concerned, take special care regarding the saturated fats you consume. Saturated fats are a big source of LDL cholesterol. Similarly, trans fatty acids (those that result from the hydrogenation of vegetable oil) can also tend to increase blood cholesterol level.

Activity: Be active and exercise regularly! If you're leading a sedentary lifestyle, it's going to affect your weight and in the long run, you're going to suffer from increased levels of LDL

Weight: People who are overweight are at more of a risk of developing high levels of LDL cholesterol levels. To keep your health in check, make sure you measure and keep up with your BMI.

Now, like any other illness there are always factors that can be controlled by regulating

your lifestyle and those that can't. Here's a list:

Non-changeable causes: Heredity, Age and Gender

Changeable causes: Diet, Activity and Weight

Besides the above, other lifestyle factors such as smoking and alcohol (changeable factors) also play a huge part in affecting your blood cholesterol levels.

By now, you're probably aware of the direct and harmful connection between high blood cholesterol levels and decreased blood supply to various organs. If this remains uncontrolled, it will take on various forms and manifest itself in numerous ways over a span of an individual's life.

High blood cholesterol and heart: A dangerous association

When you lead a lifestyle where you aren't paying too much attention to your diet or getting enough exercise, cholesterol build up is going to be at its prime, thus narrowing the blood vessels and causing a hardening of the arteries. Blood is a major carrier of oxygen to the heart and therefore, when your blood vessels narrow down, blood doesn't reach the heart in adequate amounts, thus depriving it of oxygen and consequently leading to chest pain (angina) and even a possible heart attack.

High cholesterol and calcification in arteries

Another major problem that you can face due to an increase in cholesterol is the building up of calcium within the walls of your arteries (calcification). When this happens over a prolonged period of time, it becomes a hard, brittle plaque. In the case where the build up of calcium takes place in the surroundings of the heart valves, it causes them to narrow down (calcific aortic valve stenosis)

High cholesterol and atherosclerosis

When your levels of LDL cholesterol increase, what essentially happens inside your body is that this cholesterol sticks to the inside of the blood vessel walls and accumulates there leading to the development of atherosclerosis. This in turn narrows down the blood vessels and the flow of blood to different parts of the body.

High cholesterol and high blood pressure

There is a direct link between high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure. When there's an accumulation of cholesterol in the vessels, the pressure of the blood inside automatically increases, thus leading to high blood pressure. This has been one of the prime causes of both, heart attacks as well as strokes.

High cholesterol and increased risk of clotting

Among the many other associations research has also revealed that high blood cholesterol and blood clotting appear to be linked to one another, which can further be the cause of a number of complications in the body.

High cholesterol and stroke

In case where the levels of LDL cholesterol in your body become high, it'll slowly build up in the walls of the arteries. The ultimate result is a thick, hard plaque narrowing down the lumen (interior) of the arteries. Importantly, if any one of these plaques ruptures, it can cause a blot clot to form, blocking normal blood flow to the brain and leading to stroke.