High Cholesterol Wreaks Havoc on Your Health

High cholesterol is a condition with no apparent symptoms, yet this condition, if left uncontrolled, will wreak havoc on your health. Chronic high cholesterol causes a wide range of life threatening diseases.

Cholesterol referrers to levels of the fatty acids in your blood stream, specifically three types: triglycerides (very low density), LDL (low density) and HDL (high density). Triglycerides and LDL are your bad cholesterol while HDL is your good cholesterol. HDL is beneficial to your body. High levels of LDL and triglycerides will harm you in the long run.

Some of the major diseases that long term high cholesterol levels (i.e. HDL and triglycerides) can cause you if left untreated are attributed to a condition called arteriosclerosis (thickening and hardening of your arterial walls). This condition results when the fat in the blood stream accumulates and begins to block your arteries and blood vessels. Via your blood stream, these fats also deliver calcium to your body, and as fat accumulates, so do calcium deposits. This calcium hardens your arteries reducing their elasticity.

Below are some diseases resulting from these phenomena:

1. Coronary Artery Disease: hardening of your coronary arteries from fat. This can lead to heart attack from a blood clot or a ruptured artery.

2. Stroke: blockage of blood to your brain from a blood clot. A stroke can have many disastrous outcomes including paralysis, lack of speech and death.

3. Peripheral Vascular Disease: decrease blood circulation to your legs/feet and arms/hands. The results of this disease are slow healing wounds and discoloration of the lower extremities.

4. High Blood Pressure: increase in pressure on the arterial walls due to excess exertion of your heart. High blood pressure can have many adverse affects on your body.

5. Kidney Disease: decrease in kidney function as a result of reduced blood circulation. This can lead to complete kidney failure requiring dialysis or kidney transplant.

Another disease associated with high levels of triglycerides is pancreatitis, swelling of the pancreas. This disease gives you persistent abdominal pain. Furthermore, scientists are now discovering links between high cholesterol and Alzheimer's.

What is important for you to understand is that these diseases are all related in that they can result from long term high cholesterol, but also take note that many of these diseases promote one another. For example, kidney failure can lead to high blood pressure and vice versa.

Sources:

• Triglyceride: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglyceride
• Cholesterol: http://cholesterol.about.com/
• Peripheral Vascular Disease: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_vascular_disease
• High Blood Pressure - Tips to Eat Less Salt and Sodium: http://womenshealth.about.com/
• Keep Cholesterol In Check To Ward Off Dementia: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32300021/