What is High Cholesterol?
Anna, the pharmacist from Allcare Pharmacy Carlingford, discusses what causes high cholesterol, the cholesterol check at Allcare pharmacies and lifestyle changes you can make to lower your cholesterol.
What is cholesterol?
Cholesterol is a type of fat that’s made in your liver and found in some foods. You have cholesterol in every cell in your body - it’s vital for good health! Cholesterol forms part of the outer membranes of cells, and your body needs it to make hormones and vitamin D. It’s also needed to make bile acids, which help your gut to digest the food you eat.
Why are high levels of cholesterol a problem?
Although your body needs cholesterol to work properly, too much of some types of cholesterol can be harmful. High cholesterol levels cause fatty deposits to build up inside blood vessels. Eventually, the vessels can block and blood cannot flow through them. This is particularly likely to happen in the narrow vessels which supply blood to the muscle of the heart and can cause a heart attack.
If you have high blood cholesterol, whatever the cause, it is possible to do something about it and so reduce your risk of developing heart disease or stroke.
What causes high cholesterol?
High blood cholesterol is usually due to eating too much-saturated fat. It can also be caused by not getting enough exercise.
Occasionally, high cholesterol runs in the family, and in these circumstances, it is due to the body not coping well with normal amounts of fat being eaten.
It's possible to have raised cholesterol even if you're young, fit, and feel healthy – because your cholesterol levels depend on your genes as well as your lifestyle.
High cholesterol doesn't usually have any signs or symptoms, so the only way to know your cholesterol levels is to get a check.
What does a cholesterol check involve?
An Allcare pharmacist will take a small blood sample by pricking your finger to test your cholesterol and the result is available within minutes.
Measurements give the levels of different types of cholesterol in the blood. These are:
- HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol
- LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol
- Triglycerides
For a healthy heart, people need high HDL cholesterol, low LDL cholesterol, and low triglyceride level.
Your Pharmacist can also provide a Blood pressure check, Blood glucose check (for Diabetes), and BMI (Body Mass Index) check, to measure other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The pharmacist will explain your results, suggest lifestyle changes that could help to reduce your risk, and refer you to your GP for further investigation when necessary.
What can be done about high cholesterol levels?
There are three main ways of reducing cholesterol levels:
- Changing what you eat
- Increasing the amount of exercise you take
- Taking required medication
For most people, the doctor will recommend trying the first two approaches. This may be enough to get levels down to normal. If this doesn’t work, your doctor may prescribe medication.
What can I change in my diet to help?
Changing your eating habits can lower your cholesterol level.
- The main aim is to cut down on the amount of fat you eat
- However, the type of fat you eat is also important. Saturated fats (such as butter) tend to raise cholesterol. Cutting down saturated fats can lower your blood cholesterol by up to 20%
- Changes in your eating habits have to be long-term to be effective
Anna’s top diet changes to lower cholesterol:
- Reduce alcohol intake
- Stop smoking
- Eat more fish
- Choose low-fat or skimmed-milk dairy products
- Remove all visible fat from meat and skin from chicken
- Choose low-fat cooking methods, such as grilling, steaming, or microwaving
- Try to avoid fried foods
- Cut down on biscuits, cakes, sweets, crisps, and chocolate
- Try to eat a least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables every day
- Use unsaturated oils (such as olive oil) instead of lard or dripping
- Limit eggs to two a week
- Opt for wholegrain bread and rice options instead of white
What sort of exercise is needed?
Regular exercise can reduce cholesterol and so the risk of heart disease. Exercise also helps to lessen other risk factors for heart disease, including high blood pressure, stress and being overweight.
- The best activity is one that you enjoy. It does not have to be particularly strenuous. Walking, swimming, cycling and gentle jogging are all effective.
- Try to take regular, moderate exercise, preferably every day. If possible, make it part of your daily routine. For example, walk short distances rather than taking the bus or the car, or walk upstairs instead of using the lift.
- The more you do, the better, but any exercise beats none at all. If you are not fit, start gradually and build up your activity level over several weeks.
What about cholesterol medication?
You are more likely to need medication if your cholesterol level is very high or if you have other risk factors. If you need medication, it usually needs to be taken long-term. Your doctor will tell you whether you should consider taking medication. Check out our Online Doctor Service to get a repeat prescription for high cholesterol.