10 surprising facts about cholesterol

Talking about cholesterol everyone relates immediately to greasy foods and cardiovascular diseases but that's just a prominent part of cholesterol. The following 10 facts will still surprise you.

High cholesterol levels are 'default' for some people

If you have high cholesterol yourself, it may be partly genetic. But for some families, LDL cholesterol (bad) will be in unhealthy levels. Hereditary hypercholesterolemia (FH - familial hyporcholesterolemia) affects about 1 in 500 people and can increase cholesterol levels from 300 mg / dL to 600 mg / dL leading to an early risk of pain. heart.

People with genetic high blood cholesterol 'inherit' 2 defective genes (one gene from father and one gene from mother). High cholesterol levels above 1000 mg / dL in some people (a ratio of 1 to 1 million) can cause premature death, usually before age 20.

Clogged arteries look like butter

LDL cholesterol slowly builds up in the artery walls, blocking arteries, preventing blood circulation and creating blood clots. From there the artery thickens, becomes hard and begins to turn yellow in cholesterol. If you can look inside the clogged arteries due to cholesterol, you will see them as covered with a thick layer of frozen butter.

You can identify high cholesterol levels yourself

Usually, you only know that you have high cholesterol if your doctor says so. But high levels of cholesterol in the body can also be seen clearly in the reddish-yellow spots on your skin (yellow tumor).

These nodules are of varying magnitude and can be found throughout the body, including elbows, knees, and eyelids (although not all eyelid nodules are caused by high cholesterol). Yellow cancer tends to occur in older people, people with diabetes and people with genetic high blood cholesterol.

Cholesterol levels may be too low

Everyone knows that high cholesterol is not good, but very low cholesterol can also have adverse health effects. Experts recommend that you keep your cholesterol level below 200mg / dL, an average for adults. However, below a certain level like 160mg / dL can lead to health risks, including cancer. Are health problems causing low cholesterol levels or vice versa? Or are they unrelated? That has not been clarified yet.

Studies show that some pregnant women with low cholesterol levels are prone to premature birth. Low cholesterol is even associated with anxiety and depression.

Our cholesterol levels are decreasing

Finally have a good news! While you think that cholesterol levels are increasing along with obesity, people are actually lowering their cholesterol levels.

For example, in the early 1960s up to 33% of people between the ages of 20 and 74 had high cholesterol levels (ie over 240 mg / dL) and the average concentration was 222 mg / dL. But from 2003 to 2006, about 16% of people of that age had high cholesterol and an average concentration of 200 mg / dL.

50 years ago, high cholesterol was not seen as a serious health problem. Currently cholesterol levels are generally declining mainly because people are more aware of its dangers, thereby adopting healthier diets and checking cholesterol levels more often.

Exercise raises good cholesterol

Doctors often recommend that exercise can reduce cholesterol naturally. But a recent study in the Journal of Lipid Research says exercise can affect cholesterol levels in different ways depending on gender and race.

Among the participants in the study (who had been followed for 9 years); Physical activity is equivalent to one hour of moderate activity or a moderate half-hour of activity each week that can increase good cholesterol (HDL) in all participating groups. But bad cholesterol (LDL) only decreases in women, and total cholesterol levels in the body only decrease in African American women.

Foods that do not contain cholesterol can still raise cholesterol levels

Be careful with foods that do not contain cholesterol. Cholesterol is made from animal liver and it is found in animal foods such as meat, eggs, milk. Certain products may not contain or contain low cholesterol, however, that does not mean they are good for your cholesterol levels.

Many industrial fried and baked foods that contain trans fat increase cholesterol levels, most often in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Trans fat, along with saturated fat, is the main culprit of increasing food cholesterol levels, but they will not be included in the ingredient list on the packaging.

Read the list of nutritional ingredients and symbols carefully, look at fat information as well as information about cholesterol before you think a product is healthy.

High cholesterol levels can cause impotence

Besides damaging the heart, high cholesterol can also cause a variety of other health problems. A 2005 study in Sweden found that men with cholesterol levels of about 270mg / dL or higher were 4.5 times more likely to develop testicular cancer than men with cholesterol levels of about 220 or lower.

Moreover, high cholesterol levels are also associated with a higher risk of impotence, kidney failure, and even Alzheimer's disease (gradual degeneration of the brain that weakens memory). A 2009 study showed that diets with high cholesterol also increased the risk of cirrhosis or liver cancer.