Healthy Living: Good cholesterol vs. bad cholesterol
It’s a condition that creeps up over time and can be deadly, many times without warning. But as experts advise, there are two types of cholesterol – the good and the bad. There are ways of keeping the good type while controlling the bad. This week’s edition of Healthy Living begins with part one of a series on cholesterol.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
Conditions such as Diabetes and Hypertension are considered lifestyle diseases. They are a manifestation of how a person lives their life. One very common condition in Belize is also a result of the way we live our life; as common as it may seem; it is also easily misunderstood. If you’ve been diagnosed with high cholesterol, don’t be embarrassed as it can be a bit confusing.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar, Internist/Intensivist
“We have such a thing as bad cholesterol what is called a L.D.L. or a low-density lipoprotein or a H.D.L. and also important is the ratio that exists between them. We say bad cholesterol because this is the one that actually does the clogging up whilst the other one has a more preventative function when it comes to the cholesterol molecule.”
Cholesterol is merely fat in the blood. It is produced by the liver and has several functions including the building and the maintaining of the cell membranes. But in large amounts, cholesterol can cause problems. Dr. Fernando Cuellar explains in very simple terms what can happen in the body when there is too much cholesterol.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“Well, what happens is just—lets envision a pipe in your house, a pipe that carries water. Now when you install a pipe it’s all clean inside but over time it becomes clogged up with all types of sediments. The same things happen in our vessels. Vessels meaning the arteries and veins which are the tubes that carry the blood with high cholesterol level, these vessels get clogged up. When there’s clogging up of the vessels, especially the arteries, then there’s not enough blood supply to the organs that it’s leading to so eventually, you’ll have that organ suffering being of course your heart or your brain.”
Inadequate blood to the head and the brain can lead to severe complications like heart attacks and strokes. It can also lead to circulation problems as the limbs may not be getting sufficient blood supply. In fact, the feeling of numbness in the hands and legs is one potential indicator of high cholesterol.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“One of the first and general symptoms that people would complain of is just a feeling of unwellness; they feel it themselves and they know something is wrong. They are not as energetic, they feel a lit bit more tired than usual, they start complaining about headaches, there’s no real pattern to headaches, they will start feeling sensations of numbness hands legs, and of course then specifically depending on which organ is being affected, then they will have symptoms specific to that. But many times—and this is really important—many time there are no symptoms so it’s important that you go in and get your annual or your yearly check up.”
But, you don’t need to experience symptoms to consider checking your cholesterol levels. Sometimes looking at the health conditions of your family may be enough of an indicator.
Dr. Fernando Cuellar
“There’s always that role that your genes play. So you’ll have a family history taken. Did your parents suffer high cholesterol, did any of your siblings; any brother, any sister, any uncle; because by having a family member then you automatically are at risk to yourself suffer from that. Persons who consider themselves lean or “maaga” so to speak, many people think that you have to be fat or chubby to have high cholesterol problems. But lean or “maaga” people or thin people also have cholesterol issues.”
“The biggest misconception is that this cannot happen to me. This happens to everybody else except me because I can ride my bicycle from here to Belmopan or I can jog around Marion Jones and I feel pretty good. But I think that’s the biggest misconception that you’re healthy and unfortunately with a proper check up you can identify some problems such as high cholesterol. Even if you think you’re healthy, because I do have a lot of clients who are athletes actually and when they come in and do their annual check up they get surprises that their cholesterol is higher than usual. Artists, performers and of course, we’ve had the very unfortunate event with Andy Palacio for example. So basically, it’s for you to be proactive, be preventative.”
So don’t wait. Get yourself checked out and tune in next week when Healthy living looks at how to lower and control your cholesterol.
