This elevates the amount of cholesterol they have in their body. This clogs the arteries, increasing the risk of heart attack , stroke , high blood pressure , and similar heart health problems. Clogged arteries make it harder for the heart to pump blood throughout the body, so high LDL cholesterol and the clogged arteries it causes may also cause chest pain.
The body naturally produces all of the cholesterol it needs. This means that having a low LDL cholesterol level is not typically a problem, and a person does not need cholesterol from food to increase it.
There are different types of LDL cholesterol particles, depending on their size and density. Small dense LDL is the most atherogenic subtype of LDL, which means that it is more likely to leave fatty deposits in the blood. Having fatty deposits in the blood means that a person may be at higher risk of developing certain conditions, such as:. LDL cholesterol is an umbrella term for lipoproteins with a density between 1.
However, this classification method may not always be the same among all studies. VLDL helps carry triglycerides, which are blood fats, throughout the body. HDL cholesterol is a type of beneficial cholesterol.
This is because it binds to cholesterol then shepherds it to the liver. This enables the liver to filter it out of the body. Many of the same behavioral factors that elevate the risk of heart disease can also raise cholesterol. These factors include smoking and eating a lot of trans fats.
However, cholesterol levels are complex, and it is possible for a person to lead a very healthy lifestyle and still have high cholesterol. Excess cholesterol in the arteries can lead to strokes — a disruption in blood flow that can damage parts of the brain, leading to loss of memory, movement, difficulty with swallowing and speech and other functions.
High blood cholesterol on its own has also been implicated in the loss of memory and mental function. In the digestive system, cholesterol is essential for the production of bile — a substance that helps your body break down foods and absorb nutrients in your intestines.
But if you have too much cholesterol in your bile, the excess forms into crystals and then hard stones in your gallbladder. Gallstones can be very painful. Keeping an eye on your cholesterol level with recommended blood tests and lowering your risk for heart disease will help improve your overall quality of life. Having too much LDL cholesterol can put you at greater risk of heart attack or stroke.
Read on to…. Your doctor will look at many factors when they decide which statin is safest for you, including your health and other medications you take. Cholesterol is a waxy, fatty substance that's found in your body and that travels through your bloodstream. Your cholesterol levels are directly tied….
Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. TLC includes three parts: Heart-healthy eating. A heart-healthy eating plan limits the amount of saturated and trans fats that you eat. Weight Management.
If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL cholesterol. Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity 30 minutes on most, if not all, days. Drug Treatment. If lifestyle changes alone do not lower your cholesterol enough, you may also need to take medicines.
There are several types of cholesterol-lowering drugs available, including statins. The medicines work in different ways and can have different side effects. Talk to your health care provider about which one is right for you. While you are taking medicines to lower your cholesterol, you still should continue with the lifestyle changes.
Learn More. Clinical Trials. Preparing for the holidays? Just how far to lower LDL, however, has remained controversial.
However, recent studies have suggested that CVD risk may continue to drop as LDL is lowered beyond these targets, leading some cardiologists to believe that our current guidelines are not aggressive enough. Others are concerned that lowering LDL too much may lead to harm. LDL is a key component of many hormones and all cell membranes, which allow cells to communicate with each other.
Earlier studies had raised concerns that lowering LDL too far might interfere with normal cellular functions, especially in organs that have higher lipid concentrations, such as the brain and reproductive organs. And there have been reports of a slightly increased risk of osteoporosis and brain bleeding in patients treated with high doses of statin medications. Well-known side effects in people who use statin medications include muscle aches and a slightly increased risk of diabetes, especially when high doses of medication are used.
Whether these risks are due to the statin medications themselves or the lowering of LDL is not entirely clear.
Therefore, an extremely low LDL by itself does not appear to be dangerous in these unusual cases. The benefit was consistent regardless of the medications used to lower cholesterol. The JAMA Cardiology meta-analysis looked at studies in which LDL was lowered with a statin drug, which works by lowering LDL production in the liver, or with a different type of medication, including ezetimibe Zetia , which interferes with absorption of LDL from the intestine, or PCSK9 inhibitors, newer injectable medicines that increase uptake of LDL from the bloodstream into the liver.
Although statin medications themselves have been linked to side effects, especially at high doses, it appears that extremely low LDL concentrations are not responsible for side effects. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.
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