In a recent statistical data released by the World Health Organization, Heart or Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) still ranked first among the world’s leading cause of death, and along with this killer CVDs are Cardiac arrests or Heart attacks and cerebrovascular disease such as strokes. Heart attack and strokes are events caused by blockage or obstruction in the blood vessel that disables blood flow to the hearth and brain. The culprit? – fat build-ups or fatty deposits around the inner walls of the blood vessels.
It is a common knowledge that these fatty deposits are from the absence of proper physical activity and presence of too much bad cholesterol in our diet. This unhealthy lifestyle eventually leads to obesity; consequently, raising a person’s risk of heart failures and strokes. So, we know that you love to enjoy your crispy outside and juicy, melt in the mouth inside fried pork liempo or chicken, or your favorite fast-food pizza, burger, and fries takeaways, but you might want to cut that fat and be more cautious on our health risks as young as possible.
“Feel your body.” Being cautious also means that we should be aware and knowledgeable of the clues that our body is giving us. Hence, to help with understanding those health warnings, here are some medical facts about cholesterol and some of our body’s signs and symptoms for having excessive ‘bad’ cholesterol.
Clarifying Cholesterol Myths and Misunderstanding
Before we delve on “am I at risk” – let us first debunk common cholesterol myths that tramples the proper way of combatting the true enemy.
1. Myth: Cholesterol is bad for us
Fact: Not all cholesterol are bad – cholesterol is essential in our body it helps with digestion; it creates hormones for growth and development, and it produces Vitamin D for immune system and repair. However, just like any other dualist concepts, cholesterol comes in two forms; the “Low-density lipoprotein” (LDL) or the bad or unhealthy cholesterol and the “High density lipoprotein” (HDL) or the good cholesterol that helps in removing excess cholesterol out of our bodies. With that, we can note that we should choose food that are rich with healthy HDL, such as avocados, olive oil, beans and whole-grains and fiber rich food.
Note: Every cholesterol bearing food is healthy. However, problems arise due to excessive LDL, thus the key to a healthy cholesterol diet is balance.
2. Myth: You can feel high cholesterol
Fact: No, you can’t feel high presence of bad cholesterol, you can only feel it when it’s already worst. Thus, you may want to check your cholesterol number especially when you are currently living the best of that non-exercising high fat and sugar consuming lifestyle.
Note: There are a lot of ways to lessen the risk of cholesterol build-up. You can either lose weight, cut your smoking and alcohol vices, increase Omega-3 intake, and eat more plant-based produce.
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Possible Signs and Symptoms High Cholesterol Presence
Unfortunately, we cannot detect large presence of bad cholesterol in our body. There are no early warning signs. We can only look out for emergency pre-events that can lead to heart attacks or stroke.
The occurrence of these complications can give us the hint that cholesterol is building up as “plaque” along our blood pathways, narrowing it down or hardening it making the blood flow difficult or impossible.
The only way to know your cholesterol level is through a blood test. Yet, you may need to consider these signs and symptoms of burgeoning cholesterol complications.
Heart Disease
The number killer among all CVDs, symptoms may include angina or chest pain, nausea or feeling of vomiting, extreme fatigue and drowsiness, shortness of breath, pain in the neck, jaw, upper abdomen and back, and numbness and coldness on your limbs.
Stroke
Another risk of high LDL cholesterol and plaque buildup is when blood fails to reach an important part of our brain it can endanger a person’s life because of loss of some muscular functions, even the involuntary ones. Knowing the symptoms of stroke can save the day. Symptoms includes sudden loss of balance and coordination, dizziness, facial asymmetry; drooping or as if melting eye lid or one facial side, inability to move one side of the body, confusion, slurring words, numbness in the face, arm, and leg, severe headache, and problems in vision such as blurring or darkening.
Ischemia and Heart Attack
Oxygen deprivation is a serious problem. There are instances that because of blood blockage, oxygen can’t reach our hearts; not enough oxygen levels can cause the heart or part of the heart to die. Heart attack is fatal if not treated immediately. Thus, it is better to not let that happen by treating yourself right at a young age. In case of this emergency, the body can give signs such as tightness and extreme chest pain, difficulty breathing, anxiety, dizziness, nausea, indigestion or heartburn and excessive e fatigue.
Peripheral Arterial Disease
Reduced blood flow, still caused by plaque buildup, can put your kidneys, stomach, arms, legs, and feet at risk. Symptoms of early PAD is cramping, achiness, fatigue, pain in legs and discomfort. When ignored, these symptoms can be severe problems like heart attack, stroke, tissue dying or gangrene, paleness, leg ulcers or wounds that may not easily heal and can lead to limb amputation or cutting off infected limbs.
It does not mean that we cannot feel the early onset of extreme bad cholesterol in our blood that there is no way we can prevent these death causing events.
Final Thoughts about the Signs and Symptoms of High Cholesterol
We can do something; we are always the captain of our choices. Begin a healthy lifestyle, be conscious of the food we eat, always make sure that we do our personal research or at least we check labels before purchasing certain food products. Create balance meal plans with essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fiber and even the right amount of cholesterol. Maintain an exercise routine even in your most tedious times, find a way to at least walk a mile or two. Moreover, practice checking or monitoring your blood cholesterol regularly, especially if you came from a family with long history of cholesterol problem
Prevention is and always will be better than cure. Fit and well living starts with discipline, listening to and respecting your body, following experts’ advice and of course moderation of all our life activities. Our body is a temple. Treat it well to make the most out of your dreams, desires, aspiration, and LIFE.
MORE INFORMATION: https://www.healthline.com/health/high-cholesterol