High Cholesterol Symptoms
High cholesterol symptoms – what are they anyway? Is there something that you need to look for, cholesterol readings or some symptom that screams, “You’re in trouble!”?
Well, there’s some bad news, and that is there aren’t any definitive high cholesterol symptoms that you can point to. But there are heart disease symptoms that can signal your need to get your cholesterol checked.
Cholesterol and Heart Disease
Heart disease is often linked to high cholesterol. However, you can have a heart attack but still have low cholesterol readings. So how are these two linked, then?
Cholesterol is naturally produced by your body, in your liver, and is in fact necessary. This is because your body uses it to do things like make bile salts, manufacture vitamin D and create hormones. So you don’t want to eliminate cholesterol; instead, you want to prevent a good thing from becoming too much of a good thing with an excess.
However, too much cholesterol can actually irritate your arteries. This irritation can contribute to plaquing; that is, a buildup of cholesterol in the walls of your arteries.
Cholesterol Readings
When it comes to cholesterol readings, you might have heard that there are two different kinds of cholesterol – LDL and HDL, and they are very different.
LDL is short for low-density lipoprotein, and is often called “bad cholesterol”. HDL is short for high-density lipoprotein, and is usually called “good protein”. One way to remember which is good and which is not is that you want LDL to be low in the blood, and HDL should be higher.
LDL, although it fills a need in the body, tends to irritate the arteries and is more likely to plaque. HDL, on the other hand, helps to escort LDL out of the body.
So even if your overall cholesterol readings are in the normal range, if your LDL is high and HDL is low, you’re still at risk.
High Cholesterol Symptoms
OK, there are no real high cholesterol symptoms, but what are some other risks for high cholesterol and coronary disease. Here are a few things to look for.
- Family history of heart disease, high cholesterol and/or high triglycerides.
- Being sedentary (i.e. a “couch potato”).
- Consistently eat a diet high in cholesterol. Such foods are OK in moderation or as occassional treats, but not healthy as a routine part of your diet. As far as high cholesterol foods to avoid, the worst offenders are saturated fats and trans fats.
- Smoking (one more reason to quit).
- Certain diseases or conditions, such as some thyroid diseases. High cholesterol is also linked to diabetes.
While there aren’t any high cholesterol symptoms that you can point a finger at, you can analyze your lifestyle and risks. Then, if your’re still concerned, schedule a visit to your health care provider.