When you think about cholesterol, you probably think about fatty foods and heart problems. But you may be only partly correct in your thinking. We already know that elevated blood cholesterol is bad news, and 34 million Americans have levels that can increase their risk of all sorts of health problems, including a heart attack. But if you think you’ve heard everything you need to know about this waxy fat, there may be a few surprises in store.
Did you know that cholesterol can be so high that it shows up in fatty deposits in the skin? Did you know that cholesterol can even be too low?
High cholesterol may be inevitable, depending on genetic history
If you have high cholesterol, it may be partly genetic. For some families, it’s inevitable that LDL, or bad cholesterol, will be in the unhealthy zone. The disease, known as familial hypercholesterolemia, affects about 1 in 500 people and can cause total cholesterol levels from 300 mg/dL to 600 mg/dL, and cause heart attacks even in younger years.
Clogged arteries look like butter
Even if you can’t see xanthomas on the skin, high cholesterol can still build up in the body. Bad cholesterol slowly builds up in artery walls, causing a thick plaque that can narrow arteries, restrict blood flow and lead to blood clots. Arteries thicken, become rigid and start to take on the yellow color of cholesterol. If you were able to take a look at the inside of cholesterol-clogged arteries, they would look as if they were lined with a thick layer of butter!
You can see high cholesterol
Normally, you only know you have high cholesterol levels if a doctor tells you so. But it is possible for high cholesterol to be as plain as the nose on your face, showing up on the skin as reddish-yellowish bumps known as xanthomas. These patches vary in size and can be found all over the body, including on the joints, hands and eyelids. They tend to occur in older people and in those with diabetes or other health problems.
Cholesterol can be too low
Everyone knows that high cholesterol is bad, but low cholesterol can be unhealthy too. Experts recommend that you keep your total cholesterol under 200 mg/dL, which is about the average for adults. However, below a certain level — generally 160 mg/dL — low cholesterol is associated with health risks, including cancer. Do the health problems cause low cholesterol, or vice versa? Are they even unrelated? It’s still being researched.
Our cholesterol is dropping
Good news! Overall, our cholesterol has been dropping! In the 1960’s, 33 percent of people aged 20 to 74 had high cholesterol. In 2003 to 2006, about 16 percent of people in that same age group had high cholesterol. Elevated cholesterol, which was unrecognized as a serious health problem 50 years ago, is dropping mainly because of more awareness of its dangers, which has resulted in healthier diets, more cholesterol screening, and the widespread use of statin medications.
Exercise boosts good cholesterol
Doctors generally recommend exercise as a lifestyle change that can help lower cholesterol naturally. That being said, a recent study in the Journal of Lipid Research suggests that exercise may affect cholesterol differently, depending on the patient’s race and gender. Among the study participants, who were followed over nine years, physical activity equivalent to an extra hour of mild exercise or half hour of moderate exercise per week was associated with an increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good cholesterol, in each of the groups the researchers studied. But LDL, the bad cholesterol, dropped only in women, and total cholesterol dropped only in African-American women.
Cholesterol-free food can still raise cholesterol
Watch out for cholesterol-free food. Cholesterol is made by the liver of animals, and it will only be found in animal-based foods, such as meat, milk and eggs. Certain products can honestly state that they have little or no cholesterol — however, that doesn’t mean they are good for your cholesterol levels. Many fried foods and commercial baked goods contain cholesterol-raising trans fats, most commonly in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oils. Trans fats, along with saturated fats, are the main culprits of high cholesterol from food, but they won’t be listed as cholesterol on packaging. It’s recommended that you read ingredient lists and nutrition labels carefully, looking at fat and cholesterol content.
High cholesterol may cause erectile dysfunction
We already know that high cholesterol is bad for your heart. But high cholesterol can cause a host of other health problems. A 2005 Swedish study found that men with total cholesterol of about 270 mg/dL and above were 4.5 times more likely to develop testicular cancer than men with cholesterol levels of 220 or below
What’s more, high cholesterol has been linked to a greater risk of erectile dysfunction, kidney failure, and even Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, a 2009 study found that diets high in dietary cholesterol are associated with an increased risk of developing liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.
SOURCE: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/11/24/moh.healthmag.cholesterol.surprises/index.html