Elevated cholesterol does not cause symptoms

Apr 17, 2022 Dr Zulfikar Bux, Features / Columnists

By Dr. Zulfikar Bux
Emergency Medicine specialist

Kaieteur News – Too often, I’m visited by patients who complain of feeling unwell and associate their symptoms with having a high cholesterol level. There are even times when patients are adamant about cholesterol being the cause of their illness and plead for a cholesterol test. Once the test is done, and they realise their cholesterol is normal, they start to feel better. It obviously proves cholesterol was not the cause and may even be a mind over matter situation. As physicians, we try to figure out causes of patient’s symptoms and attempt to remedy their ailments. Treating a patient’s cholesterol to treat their mind and not the underlying cause of their symptoms, is not in the best interest of the patient. Today, I will attempt to explain the role of cholesterol and hopefully, help to debunk this widespread myth of cholesterol being the reason for someone’s symptom(s).
Is there a purpose for cholesterol in our body?
Cholesterol should be considered both or friend and more importantly, our foe. At normal levels, it is an essential substance for the body’s normal functioning, but if levels get too high, it becomes a silent danger that puts us at risk for multiple conditions. These conditions will be the cause of symptoms over time and not the elevated cholesterol by itself. One should therefore not think that elevated cholesterol is harmless, but should also be mindful of incorrectly associating their medical complaints with having a high cholesterol level.

How does cholesterol function in our body?

Cholesterol is oil-based and so does not mix with the blood, which is water-based. It is therefore carried around the body in the blood by lipoproteins. Cholesterols are carried by two types of lipoproteins; Low-density lipoprotein (LDL – cholesterol carried by this type is known as ‘bad’ cholesterol) and High-density lipoprotein (HDL – cholesterol carried by this type is known as ‘good’ cholesterol). Cholesterol has four main functions, without which we could not live. It contributes to the structure of cell walls, makes up digestive bile acids in the intestine, allows the body to produce Vitamin D, and enables the body to make certain hormones.

What happens when your cholesterol levels are high?

High levels of the bad cholesterol (LDL) will lead to it being stored in arteries and build up over time causing blockage. This bad cholesterol build up is called atherosclerosis and when it leads to blockage of arteries, we start to see the complications of the cholesterol blockage. These complications can include high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack. So as we can see, it’s not the cholesterol that will cause us to feel bad, but it’s the complications associated with cholesterol blockage of arteries. These blockages take years and will not cause symptoms until those years have elapsed. Therefore, we should not associate a sudden rise in our cholesterol with any specific symptom.

How can you control your cholesterol levels?

You can assist our body with controlling our cholesterol levels by eating the right food, exercising and avoid smoking. Limiting intake of bad fat in the diet will help to manage cholesterol levels. The following foods are high in bad cholesterol and should be avoided as much as possible:

• Full fat dairy and its products (Butter, Cheese, Full fat milk, etc.)
• Red Meat (Beef, Pork, lamb, etc.)
• Processed meat (Sausage, Beef Jerky, Canned meat, etc.)
• Fried foods (French fries, Fried chicken and other deep-fried foods)
• Baked sweets (Cake, pastries, cookies, etc.)
Of course, one cannot emphasise enough about regular exercising and avoidance of smoking in assisting the cholesterol reduction process. If we do these well, our chances of having high cholesterol and subsequently having complications from high cholesterol, will be reduced.
In life we will all experience various symptoms from time to time. It may be that nagging headache, or that crushing chest pain or you’re just not feeling well. As Physicians, we will look for causes of these symptoms and treat them; high cholesterol will not be one of those causes.