LDL cholesterol is the unwanted cholesterol that, when found at high levels in your blood, can increase your risk of many life-threatening diseases. There are steps you can take to help reduce your LDL cholesterol levels and, in turn, reduce your risks of developing these diseases. Changes include consuming more fiber, eating foods high in omega-3 fatty acids, stopping smoking, getting regular exercise, replacing animal meat with plant-based proteins and avoiding whole milk products.
Heart Attack
High cholesterol levels will cause your arteries to become narrowed over time due to the buildup of excess cholesterol in the form of plaque along the artery walls. As the arteries become more and more narrow, the amount of blood that can flow through them will decrease. This is referred to as coronary heart disease. When enough blood is unable to reach your heart, the result will be a heart attack.
Stroke
A stroke happens when there is a sudden decrease in blood flow to the brain. Lack of oxygen-rich blood results in the death of some brain cells, notes the Mayo Clinic. The damage a stroke causes will vary from person to person.
If you have high LDL cholesterol levels, you are at risk of suffering from a stroke, but having other factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, being elderly and smoking will increase your risk of stroke even further. The symptoms of a stroke include sudden headache, loss of coordination, dizziness, paralysis, trouble communicating and change in eyesight, reports MayoClinic.com.
Vascular Disease
High levels of LDL cholesterol in your blood can contribute to the development of peripheral vascular disease. The Cleveland Clinic reports that peripheral vascular disease occurs when fatty deposits, or plaque, along artery walls impedes the flow of blood that can circulate to your legs and feet.
The symptoms can include pain in the legs or buttocks especially when walking, cold legs or feet, problems with sores healing, numbness of the legs and changes to the color of the skin, but for some people there may be no noticeable symptoms, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
High Blood Pressure
As your arteries become more clogged with cholesterol, your blood pressure will rise. High blood pressure can be made worse by smoking or drinking more than two drinks a day for men and more than one drink a day for women. According to the Family Doctor.org, high blood pressure occurs when a person has at least a systolic blood pressure of 140 over a diastolic blood pressure of 90, or if the numbers are higher than this.
Left untreated, high blood pressure can increase a person's risk of developing a number of significant problems including stroke, heart disease and kidney failure, notes the Family Doctor. Generally, there are no symptoms associated with high blood pressure and adults should have their blood pressure checked at least every two years, reports the Family Doctor.
Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body stops producing its own insulin or becomes resistant to insulin and is often linked to poor diet and/or obesity. The Cleveland Clinic notes that Type 2 diabetes has negative effects on LDL cholesterol levels because it can contribute to the increase in LDL cholesterol levels while causing the good HDL cholesterol levels to drop.
Signs of type 2 diabetes include significant weight lost despite increased appetite, increased thirst and urination, vision that has become blurred, poor healing sores and darker skin that has a velvety feel and usually appears in creases and folds of the skin, reports MayoClinic.com. To control type 2 diabetes, a person should engage in regular exercise, eat a healthy diet, follow his doctors recommendations and achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
