6 Dangerous Effects of High Cholesterol

Exceeding a healthy level of cholesterol is an issue that affects more than 100 million Americans, but most do not truly understand the consequences. Any level above 200 mg/dL is out of the safe range because it significantly increases the risk of heart disease and other complications. Arteries gradually become more narrow as the waxy substance accumulates, but actual symptoms of high cholesterol levels are rare. Adults that are not considered high-risk are recommended to have a physician screen their levels every 5 years, but it may be necessary for individuals over 50 to get checked more often. Understanding the dangerous effects of high cholesterol in your body is the first step in protecting your health. 

Chest Pain
Angina is a condition that feels as though your chest is being compressed or squeezed forcibly, and it occurs often when the blood oxygen supply going to the heart is decreased. Coronary artery disease can cause symptoms like chest pain when the arteries are clogged with plaque, so it's important to pay attention to new or changing sensations in the chest. A heart attack can occur if the muscle is completely deprived of oxygen. 

High Blood Pressure
Cholesterol plaque that hardens the arteries puts extra strain on the heart, and the resulting high blood pressure will cause problems. Hypertension caused by extremely high blood pressure may cause issues with vision, breathing, painful headaches, or an irregular heartbeat. People that are lucky enough to experience these symptoms will know that they need to see their doctor promptly, but others suffer from consequences like a stroke or heart attack. 

Heart Attack
A coronary artery that becomes completely blocked is going to restrict the blood supply to the heart. If a life-threatening heart attack does occur, the patient could experience total heart failure or a dangerously irregular heartbeat. Arrhythmia isn't necessarily fatal, but a ventricular fibrillation requires immediate treatment to prevent deadly consequences. 

Stroke
There is a domino-effect of complications that begin with high cholesterol because it causes the initial buildup of plaque in the large arteries. As this leads to high blood pressure, the risk of having a fatal stroke is significantly increased. If the small blood vessels that lead to the brain are blocked and weakened, they can burst to cause a stroke. People that survive a stroke could experience permanent complications like limb paralysis, weak muscles, vision issues, confusion, and speech loss. 

Peripheral Vascular Disease
Clogged arteries that limit the blood supply to the limbs leads to a circulation disorder called peripheral vascular disease. Individuals with this disease often experience pain, dull aching, tingling, and weakness in their legs or feet. Without adequate treatment, the symptoms and physical damage are going to worsen to an eventual heart attack of stroke. 

Chronic Kidney Disease
The renal arteries that supply blood to the kidneys can become clogged with cholesterol plaque over time. Damage to the kidneys becomes more severe as a patient progresses through the stages of CKD. Kidney function may decrease gradually, but the complete loss of function can eventually occur. 

Weight Loss Surgery Can Improve Cholesterol Levels in Young Boys

Preliminary findings from a new study suggest that weight loss surgery could increase levels of good cholesterol in obese boys and decrease their risk of heart disease.

The weight loss surgery also increases the protective qualities of HDL cholesterol. HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, is often referred to as “good cholesterol.”

Dr. Amy Shah, an author of the study and an endocrinologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, stated that the surgery may change how HDL cholesterol works in adolescent boys. It was already known that weight loss surgery could improve cholesterol levels, but these findings on the function of HDL cholesterol were new to Dr. Shah and her team.

The study included 10 teenaged boys with an average age of 17. All were considered severely obese and had an average weight of 367 pounds. Nine out of the 10 boys were Caucasian.

The boys all had a vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a type of weight loss surgery that decreases the size of the stomach to improve the body’s ability to lose weight.

The researchers followed up with the boys one year after surgery. They each lost an average of 111 pounds, and their BMI (Body Mass Index) dropped by 32 percent. BMI measures the ratio between a person’s weight and height.

Additionally, the boys’ levels of HDL had increased by 23 percent since surgery. Their HDL also showed an increased ability to remove cholesterol from the arteries. Perhaps most significantly, the boys’ HDL levels showed a decreased inclination to trigger inflammation. The researchers reported that HDL actually become more anti-inflammatory after the surgery.

Dr. Shah said that though the boys were still considered obese one year after surgery, their metabolic health had improved, in part due to the changes in their HDL.

Dr. Shah admits that the results of the study are limited due to the small size of the study and their focus on only male participants, but she plans to use the results as a starting point for further research. Dr. Shah plans to expand the research to include female participants as well, and to start the follow-up observations sooner than one year after surgery. Dr. Shah and her team also hope to compare their findings to other types of weight loss surgeries.

The results of this study were recently presented at an American Heart Association meeting, and have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.