Guide To Understanding Cholesterol And What Causes Levels To Rise

Diabetes

Diabetes occurs when the body doesn't have enough insulin to process blood sugar. It can lead to serious organ damage, nerve damage, blindness, loss of limb, and death. Some patients don't produce any insulin at all, while others merely have inadequate insulin production. There has been a link drawn between diabetes and unhealthy cholesterol levels. Diabetes patients typically have lower HDL cholesterol than the average healthy person. At the same time, the illness can raise LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. This is a condition known as diabetic dyslipidemia. If patients are diagnosed with this issue, it means one complication of their diabetes is that their lipids are increasing in negative directions. The consequences of this problem can be fatal. Many patients experience atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease at much younger ages than healthy individuals. Sometimes the condition will develop before patients even receive a diabetes diagnosis. Pre-diabetes patients may develop this when they have insulin resistance that's not yet severe enough to be classified officially as diabetes mellitus.

Age

As individuals get older, their cholesterol will typically undergo a natural increase. For this reason, doctors recommend individuals take certain lifestyle measures when they're young to reduce their chances of developing high cholesterol when they get older. The individuals least likely to have cholesterol issues are those under eighteen years old. An ideal cholesterol reading for adults is lower than two hundred milligrams per deciliter. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol should ideally be lower than one hundred milligrams per deciliter. In an ideal reading, an individual's HDL cholesterol levels should be higher than their LDL cholesterol levels. Having readings of lower than forty milligrams per deciliter means individuals have a major risk for heart disease. Ideal levels are at least sixty milligrams per deciliter, with higher readings corresponding to a lowered risk of heart disease. Individuals might have low cholesterol in their twenties but then struggle to keep their levels below two hundred milligrams per deciliter when they get into their fifties and sixties. While individuals don't need to be ashamed of an increase in cholesterol, it does help to address it as soon as possible.