High Cholesterol Symptoms

High cholesterol symptoms, cholesterol symptoms, high cholesterol information

For any disease, there will be symptoms shown out, which can help us indicate the particular disease. Cholesterol though is good to our body, can lead to serious consequences when its levels are higher than normal. The problem is that there are no symptoms shown when the cholesterol levels rise. It is not a situation to be ignored since it is the cause for many heart diseases.

In fact, heart diseases have become the number one cause for death in US, as compared to cancer. And high cholesterol is the major cause for heart diseases. Regrettably, this cannot be detested by symptoms. Though a person seems to be healthy, he may have high cholesterol but not know it himself.

So the only way left to determine the presence of high cholesterol is to undertake a cholesterol test. It is basically a blood test which determines the lipid levels in the blood. It gives an estimate of four components namely Total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and Triglycerides. If the levels of these components exceed their normal levels, the doctor may recommend a low-fat diet or exercising or medications or a combination.

According to the current guidelines, everyone above 20 is recommended to undertake a cholesterol test at least once in every five years. But, in case of a family history, or diagnosis with diabetes or other chronic condition, the person is recommended to take this test every year or even more frequently. Once being diagnosed with high cholesterol, this test must be undertaken even more frequently. Such routine checkups are good preventive measures of high cholesterol. This is very essential since the person may look healthy in spite of possessing high cholesterol.

It is not needed to take medications if diagnosed with cholesterol. There are possibilities for controlling it through some minor modifications in lifestyle. So it is good to check the cholesterol levels then and there so that early diagnosis can be done. Especially people who come under any of these categories must check if not done already.
• Smoking
• Family history (familial hypercholesterolemia, early stage heart diseases)
• Poor diet
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Age (risk increases as age does)
• Certain medications
• Certain chronic conditions like diabetes, thyroid gland conditions, etc

Many people thinking that they are healthy ignore to undertake tests. This is not a wise decision. Persistent high cholesterol levels may result in dangerous situations. And the most probable complication is heart disease. There are increased risks for heart disease. Cholesterol has the tendency to deposit on the walls of the blood vessels or arteries (a condition called atherosclerosis) and create a plaque. This plaque condition can lead to blood vessel blockage which in turn leads to stroke or heart diseases. The plaque can block the vessel completely or break off from this part and move to another area which gets blocked. In many of the cases, people are diagnosed to have high cholesterol only after their first heart attack.