The other day I met an old school friend who very discreetly asked me,”Since you are a doctor can I ask you a question?”
This is one of the most common question I face now a day so I said,”Go ahead”
And he said, “Last week I had a full body check-up and everything was okay but my cholesterol was raised…what should I do?”
He is my age, works an office job and has a semi-sedentary lifestyle I would say with added erratic eating habits.. and eating whatever he feels like when he feels like…
But is this not the story of most of us today? Between our busy schedules of achieving improbable targets at our workplace and prioritizing family, we hardly have any time for ourselves.
Or else I see people absolutely avoiding any fats- as ‘cholesterol is bad.’
Do we really need fats in our diet.
Yes we do. Because the cell membrane of our cells has are composed of phospholipids, cholesterol problem, proteins and carbohydrates. So one of the main substances needed for the cells are lipids. Also the myelin sheath which encases the neurons have a high proportion of lipids(70-85%). So then why does fats get such a bad reputation. Well as we have been taught since childhood that excess of anything is bad. The same logic applies for fats. When we eat fats in excess it starts depositing because it is in excess. That leads to weight gain. But more scary is the fact that it deposits in the vessels as the lipids are carried in blood attached to a carrier-lipoprotein. Now the primary function of blood is to transport oxgen and nutrients to all the cells of the body and remove the toxic metabolic wastes and help in their disposal from the body. Imagine a water pipe nicely carrying water to your home suddenly gets clogged then what will happen? In this case the water pipe are your blood vessels and the house are your vital organs like heart brain kidney etc. The cholesterol build-up in the vessels is known as atherosclerosis and it gradually reduces the blood supply till it is completely cut off. Then what will happen? Heart attack also known as Myocardial infarction. It may in similar fashion damage other organs as well.
According to a study conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research – India Diabetes (ICMR-IB), there has been an alarming increase in the prevalence of cardiovascular disease(CVD) accounting for 24% deaths among adults between the ages of 25-69 years. Indians have been found to develop CVD at a younger age which has been linked to dyslipidemia.
Indians are found to have a unique pattern of dyslipidemia-lower HDL cholesterol, increased triglycerides levels and high LDL cholesterol.
Before moving ahead, let us understand few of the terminologies as stated by National Cholesterol Education Programme:
Hypercholesterolemia- serum cholesterol levels ≥200mg/dl
Hypertriglyceridemia- serum triglyceride levels ≥150mg/dl
Low HDL cholesterol – HDL cholesterol levels <40 mg/dl
High LDL cholesterol-LDL cholesterol levels ≥130mg/dl
High total cholesterol to HDL ratio: ≥4.5
You will notice all the above parameters in your lipid profile report. Out of them, HDL is the good cholesterol-it prevents atherosclerosis, while total cholesterol, triglycerides and LDL are bad cholesterol as they are atherogenic. It means that higher levels of these components have an increased propensity for fat build up in the arteries.
So how often should we get tested for the lipids. It is advisable that regular testing should be done every 4-5 months.
If the values are abnormal then lifestyle modifications as well as lipid lowering agents are available for good outcome. Taking preventive measures is the best option rather than undergoing invasive measures later on
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