BECAUSE high cholesterol typically doesn’t cause symptoms, people tend to be unaware they have it unless they have a blood test....CONTINUE READING
But cardiologists say there are some telltale signs you can spot if your levels are too high, which could indicate something isn’t quite right.
Cholesterol
is a natural fatty substance in your blood which is produced by the liver and some of the foods you eat – everybody needs some of it to keep cells in their body healthy, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Having high cholesterol means you have too much of the fatty substance in your blood.
This can clog up your arteries and raise your risk of having a heart attack or stroke if left untreated.
Dr Sami Firoozi, consultant cardiologist at the Harley Street Clinic, said an unusual sign of the condition can actually show up in your toes.
He told Huffington Post
that brittle or slow-growing toenails
can be a tell-tale sign of high cholesterol.
This is because the fatty build-up in your arteries could cause peripheral arterial disease
(PAD), meaning blood supply to your legs is constricted.
According to the NHS, other PAD symptoms include:
These symptoms will usually emerge slowly over time, it said.
You can develop high levels of cholesterol if you eat too much saturated fat, aren’t very active or you smoke.
You’re also more likely to get it as you age and it’s more common in men.
But some people familial hypercholesterolaemia, meaning they inherit high levels of cholesterol through faulty genes.
If your family has passed high cholesterol down to you, you may have these visible signs:
1. Tendon xanthomata
Your cholesterol levels might lead to swelling in your knuckles, knees or backs of the ankles.
2. Xanthelasmas
This refers to small yellow lumps of cholesterol near the inner corner of your eye.
3. Corneal arcus
A a pale ring might appear around your iris, which is the coloured part of your eye.
The way you can measure blood cholesterol levels is using the unit millimoles per litre of blood (mmol/L).
Your levels of cholesterol should be:
When it comes to measuring low-density lipoproteins – this is what’s referred to as ‘bad cholesterol’ – the levels should be:
Cutting back cholesterol
to the levels we were born with reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes by a third, a study found.
