About consequences of high blood fat and cholesterole levels

Cholesterole and its normal role in the body

Cholesterole is a fatty or vaxy substance used by the body for a lot of purposes. The molecule has the empiric formula C27 H44 O. The cholesterole molecule consists of a steroid structure of 4 carbon rings, a side chain wit 8 carbon atoms in one end of the steroid structure and a hydroxylic group (alchohol group) attached at the other end.

Cholesterole is a neccessary compound in the human body. Cholesterole is a structural component of all cell membranes. It makes the cell membrane properly viscous, properly flexible and properly permeable for other combounds.

It is used to make a lot of hormones and substances used as internal tools in the biochemical processes of the body. The substance is supplied by the food, especially fat red meat, eggs and spawn. The body also makes its own cholesterole from saturated fat. This kind of fat is found in milk, diery products and red meat.

The body needs some cholesterole, and if the level of cholesterole gets too low, the bdoy will suffer. Bot also a too high cholesterole level is dangerous to the body, and especially to the heart and blood circulation.

The fat is not carried in the blood as free substances, but is carried by proteins of too kinds. HDL (high density lipoprotein) and LDL (low density lipo-proteine). The two proteins have different roles in the body. LDl carries cholesterole from the digestive tract and deposit it in fat cells and in the walls of blood vessels. HDL takes cholesterole and fat out of these deposits and deliver for use by the cells as energy source and working material.

Both these typs of proteins aqnd their combinaqtions with cholesterole and fat called lipoproteins are necessary for the body to work. It is however dangerous when their proportion come out of ballance. The most common imballaqnce is an elevated level of LDL in proportion to the level of HDL.

Microscopic picture of cholesterole crystals in water, a free image from Wikipedia published  under GNU license.





How one gets to high blood cholesterole and lipid levels

A too high cholesterole level is called hypercholesterolemia. When there is a general abnormal increase of both choleterole and other fatty substances, the comdition is called hyperlipidemia.

These conditions are often also combined with a too high portion of LDL and a too low portion of HDL. There is also often a too high level of the amino acid homucystein.

The reasons for high cholesterole levels, high lipid levesls and bad ratio of HDL to LDL are lifestyle factors like these:

- A too high consume of food sources like fat red meat, fat diary products, egg and spawn.

- Too little physical exercise

- A lack of good fatty acids like mono-unsaturated acids and omaga-3-polyunsaturated acids in the diet.

- A too great amount of sugar also seems to cause too high lipid levesl in the blood,

- Chemically altered fat, trans.fat, seems to have a very negative impact upon the lipid ballance and circulatory health.

The consequences of high blood cholesterole and fat levels

A high blood cholesterole and fat level makes the risk for developing blood clots higher. A blood clot can develop in the heart, the brain or the lungs, or can develop another place and be carried by the blood to these organs and cause heart infarction, stroke or lung embolism.

By high blood cholesterole and fat levels, cholesterole and fat also tend to deposit in the walls of the arteries together with other substances. This causes thickening and narrowing of the arteries. This condition is called atherosclerosis or arteriosclerosis. Saturated fat produces the greatest risk.

The risk of getting fat and cholesterole deposits at wrong places is especially great if much of the fat is carried as LDL ot low density lipoprotein. Therefore it is important that there is a right balance between LDL and HDL in the blood.

If there is much of the carrier protein LDL (low density lipoprotein) in the blood, the chance of developing atherosclerosis is especially high because this type of protein tend to carry the cholesterole and fat into the walls of the blood vessels. A high concentration of HDL (high density lipoprotein) lowers the risk of getting atherosclerois, because this type of protein carries the cholesterole and fat away from the vesel walls.

When atherosclerosis is present in a high degree, the blood circulation is greatly disturbed, and this affects the function of the whole body. Atherosclerosis can for example cause hypertension.

When atherosclrosis is present, blood coagulates much easier and the colagulated blood tend to clog the arteries much easier. Therefore atherosclerosis enhances the chance for blod clots, heart infarction and lung embolism even further.

An even further consequence of high cholesterole levels, high fat levels, atherosclerosis or heart infarction is conjestive heart failure. This occur when the heart itself or the circulatory system is so dusturbed that the heart does not manage to pump blood out to the body in a necessary amount. Then blood and tissue fluid accumulate in the blood vessels of the lungs, in the lung tissue and in the heart itself. This condition has bad consequences both for the circulation and the respiratory function.

How to avoid high cholesterole and fat levels in the blood or otherwise bad fat ballance

For most persons it is fairly simple to lover the levels of cholesterole and fat in the blood and at the same time get a good fat composition in the blood, but it is sometimes necessary to challenge the eating culture in ones own family or country to get it done.

- Eat less fat red meat, prefere lean meat.

- Consume just small amounts of fat milk, fat cheese and other fat diary products.

- Avoid consuming great amount of fat chocolate, fat cookies, fat snacks or ready-made food with much added fat.

- Avoid consuming great amount of sweet snacks, sweet drinks drinks or ready.made food loaded with heavy amounts of sugar.

- Avoid adding great amounts of butter, margarine and hard fat in your cooking.

- Avoid also adding great amounts of sugar into your meals.

- Eat fish and sea-food, and especially fat fish because those contain omaga-3-fatty-acids.

- You can also get omega-3-unsaturated acids from flaxseed oil.

- Other types of vegetable oils like soy oil and corn oil give you omega-6-unsaturated acids. Sunflower seeds and nuts give you valuable types of omega-6-unsaturated acids. Use also these ingredients in your diet, but not too musch of them. Too much of omega-6-acids is actually also bad for your circulatory health.

- Eat full-corn breaf, full-corn cereals, peas, beans.

- Eat much vegatables and fruit in a natural form.


About the heart and circulatory health hazards from tobaco and smoking


The hazardious elements in tobacco

The best known elemen in tobacco is nicotine. In peoples mind this stuff is linked to an enhanced risk of diseases, especially cancer and heart disease. The bad imact of nicotine is mostly of accute nature.

Nicotine makes blood vessels constrict and this will impair the blood flow in limbs and in the heart. Thereby blood clots can more easily form. If the vessels have a reduced volume due to atherosclerosis the blood flow can be seriously impaired even without the formation of blood clots. Nicotine also increases heart rate and blood pressure and thus increases the workload for the heart.

The impaired blood flow combined with the increased workload due to nicotine can significantly contribute to heart infarction or functional problems like angina pectoris. The extra work load that a daily nicotine dose causes for the heart also have a long term wearing effect upon the heart and blood vessels.

The smoke from tobacco contains however substances that have a long term effect perhaps worse than that of nicotine. Many of these substances go under the name tar elements. These elements cause atherosclerosis and chronic inflammatory conditions in blood vessels, including the blood vessels in the heart.

is however difficult to know exactly which substances causse which of the bad effects of smoking. The substances contribute together in complicated ways.

The hazards of tobacco and smoking on the heart

Smoking causes or increases factors that can contribute to heart disease. These factors are:

Smoking and tobaco  causes elevated blood pressure.

- Smoking and tobaco give increased levels of the bad type of fat-cholesterole-protein combinations (lipoproteins) in the blood, so called LDL, and decreases the good type of lipoprotein, the HDL. LDL tend to deliver fat and cholesterole into the walls of blood vessels, where HDL takes these substances the opposite way.

- Smoking and tobaco cause increased levels of fat and fatty substances in the blood.

- Tobaco and smoking  give  inflammation processes in the blood vessels.

- Tobaco and smoking increases the tendency of blood platlets to lump together and form blood clots.

These primary factors then damage the inside of the blood wessel walls and cause atheroslecrosis. Atherosclerosis is a combination of fat deposits, cholesterole deposits, lime deposits and a certain tumor development caused by increased division of some cells in the blood vessels.

The changes in the blood vessels will reduce the general condition and will cause symptoms of reduced blood flow in the heart and in the limbs. An important symptom of these changes is angina pectoris.

All these factors in combination can then cause accute heart attack. The most typical kind og heart attack is heart infarction where a part of the heart muscle dies and leaves a sore. Heart infarction occur when a part of the heart msucle gets too little oxygen and nutrients. Often there is a blood clot in the heart hwen this occur, but if the blood flow is too impaired due to reduced volume of the blood vesssls in the heart, heart infarction can occur even without a blood clot.

Infaction in other parts of the body can also occur, leading to destruction of tissue, for example in the brain, the lungs or the limbs. When this occur in the brain, there will occur a brain stroke.

Regular smoking increases the chance of dying from a heart attack threefold and also significantly increases the chance of brain stroke and gangrene in the limbs.

Smoking also increases the risk of non-smokers

Sekond hand inhalation of sigarette smoke exhaled by smokers and seaping from burning cigarettes also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease of non-smokers. In western countries in seems that the risk is increased around 30% in non-smokers due to the habit ofsmoking of other persons.

To stop smoking reduces the risc of cardiovascular disease significantly

The damages done by smoking can be repaired if one stops to smoke. The risk of getting heart problems is reduced sigificantly during the first months after the cessation. It is soon reduced to the half. It takes however 15 years before the risk for cardiovascular disease of a former smoker has been reduced to the same levels as for a person never having smoked.