High cholesterol: Nutritionist reveals top prevention tips
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
High cholesterol is bad news for your health and can lead to heart disease, stroke and other diseases. There are no tell-tale symptoms that your cholesterol is high, so you need to seek out the information. Express.co.uk chatted to Dr Deborah Lee from Dr Fox Online Pharmacy to find out the ONLY way to tell if your cholesterol level is dangerous.
High cholesterol is when you have too much of a fatty substance called cholesterol in your blood, mainly caused by eating fatty food, not exercising enough, being overweight, smoking and drinking alcohol.
You wouldn’t know your cholesterol levels are too high unless you have a cholesterol blood test.
Raised cholesterol levels do not cause symptoms – that is, until your arteries are so furred up you end up with angina, a heart attack, or a stroke.
It’s obviously far preferable to have your cholesterol levels checked long before you get to this stage so you can prevent it.
How to measure cholesterol
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) recommends all adults have a cholesterol check at any age, even if they feel completely well.
It should be repeated every five years – or more often if the test was abnormal.
Your GP might suggest having a test if they think your cholesterol level could be high as a result of your age, weight or another condition such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Although testing the over 40s age group may seem a priority, Dr Lee said it is important to test young adults.
She explained: “One in 250 of the UK population will have familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) – a genetic condition that results in high cholesterol levels (usually raised LDL cholesterol).
“This needs to be diagnosed at a young age and treated appropriately to stop you from developing heart disease at a young age.
“If you have close relatives who have had heart disease at a young age, this should alert you to having a medical check-up and a cholesterol test because a close family history is an important risk factor for heart disease.”
If it’s time to get a cholesterol test, you can ask your GP, pharmacist or make an appointment for your free NHS health check (if you’re 40 to 74 years old).
There are two ways of having a cholesterol blood test – from the arm or from the finger.
If you get blood taken from your arm with a needle, this is then sent to a lab to check your cholesterol level and you should get the result in a few days.
You might be asked not to eat anything for up to 12 hours before the test, but this is not always needed
If you get a finger-prick test, which is the protocol for the over 40s NHS Health Check, this can also spot early signs of heart disease and diabetes.
A drop of blood from your finger is put on a strip of paper, then into a machine that checks your cholesterol in a few minutes.
If you are told your cholesterol is raised, it means some of these parameters are abnormal.
The cholesterol blood test measures your levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and your total cholesterol to HDL ratio.
Your total cholesterol should be 5mmol/L or less for healthy adults or 4mmol/L or less for those at high risk.
More specifically, your LDL cholesterol should be 3mmol/L or less for healthy adults and 2mmol/L or less for those at high risk, and your HDL cholesterol should be above 1mmol/L.
Your total cholesterol to HDL ratio should be < 4.
If you have high cholesterol, a doctor or nurse will talk to you about how you can lower it.
This might include things like changing your diet or taking medicine.
According to the NHS site, they may also work out your risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years.
They can do this using your:
- cholesterol levels
- blood pressure
- height and weight
- age, sex and ethnicity
Don’t panic, lowering your cholesterol can help lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Not sure where to start? Try changing up your diet by learning about which foods are good and bad for cholesterol.
Source: Read Full Article
