What is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a wax type of material that is found in the blood of all beings. The main purpose of Cholesterol is to build healthy body cells. Some time due to various reasons the cholesterol levels increase in the bloodstream and cause different kinds of blood and heart-related diseases.

High cholesterol develops fatty substances in your blood vessels and causes blockage. These deposits, in the beginning, are very small, but with the passage of time, it becomes bigger and grows too much that they make difficult blood flow to the other organs and parts of the body. When these small packets break due to any reason they form the shape of a clot which causes heart stroke and heart attack which can be life-threatening.

High cholesterol can be a genetic condition but most commonly an unhealthy lifestyle and unhealthy diet is a major reason. It can be treated and you can prevent yourself from high cholesterol conditions through proper diet, some medication, and regular exercise.

Symptoms of High Cholesterol

There are not such big or minor symptoms of high cholesterol. The only way to disclose high cholesterol is by a blood test.

When you should See the Doctor

Your doctor can ask you to have some blood tests for high cholesterol. Young adults, teenagers, and kids with no risk factor of cardiovascular diseases should have tested once between the age of ten to twelve and again after five to six-year to avoid the risk of high cholesterol conditions. And other adults with no sign of any kind of heart disease should take the test every five years.

If the test did not come in normal desirable ranges and show high levels of cholesterol, your doctor can ask for some more frequent tests to confirm the reason for high cholesterol and the reason behind it. The doctor can also ask about your medical and family history of

 heart diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Causes of High Cholesterol levels

Cholesterol is attached to a protein and runs through your bloodstream. Lipoprotein is the name of the combination of cholesterol and proteins. Which have different types of cholesterol, based on different types of proteins.

Types of Cholesterol

There are two types of cholesterol 

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL)

These are called bad cholesterol, which transfers cholesterol all over the body and gathers cholesterol with the walls of your veins and arteries. Which made them narrow and hard.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL)

This type is also called a good type of cholesterol. This type takes extra cholesterol from the blood stress and returns it to the liver.

A lipid profile is used to measure triglycerides. Which is a type of lipid in your blood. High levels of triglycerides can enhance the hazard of heart stroke and heart failure. The reason behind this condition could be 

Obesity 

Unhealthy foods

Inactivity 

Risk factors

There are many factors that can increase the risk of high bad cholesterol such as

Unhealthy Diet

Diets containing saturated fat that is found in dairy products and some commercially produced trans fats, microwaved foods, popcorn, commercially manufactured cookies, and many other processed foods can increase bad cholesterol.

Some foods previously have high cholesterol in them such as full-fat farm products, red meat, and cane foods.

Inactive life

Exercise helps to improve and boost good cholesterol HDL and increase the size of bad cholesterol particles, so it is very helpful to decrease the chances of high cholesterol-related diseases.

Obesity

Obesity is the main reason for different kinds of health conditions and if your body mass is above thirty then you are at high risk of getting high cholesterol.

Getting Old

Age is another risk factor for high cholesterol, the chemistry of your body changes with age, with getting older your liver becomes weaker and it can not work as before and increase the chances of getting this bad high cholesterol condition.

Smoking

Smoking is very bad for your health and it damages the walls of blood arteries and vessels, so it causes increased bad cholesterol and decreases the level of good cholesterol.

Diabetes

Diabetes also causes high levels of dangerous and bad cholesterol which is called VLDL. it also lining and thinning the wales of the arteries and blood vessels.