Why is high blood cholesterol in women?

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

It is important to ask the therapists what high blood cholesterol means in women. They explain the difference between "bad" and "good" cholesterol, tell you how to protect yourself from an increase in their levels.

What is cholesterol

Organic compounds that make up cell membranes are different types of cholesterol. It provides the elasticity of cells, their integrity during attacks by pathogens. Cholesterol does not dissolve with water; in the body, it is carried by the blood with the help of transporter proteins.

The type of cholesterol is determined by lipid profile analysis, the main method for checking for increased cholesterol levels.

The study determines the amount of cholesterol:

• "Bad", with a low density, from which atherosclerosis develops, cholesterol plaques appear;
• "Good", with a high density, preventing the development of atherosclerosis, cleansing the vascular walls from adipose adhesion.

Such a study of blood is important for a woman, as it helps the doctor choose the right direction of treatment. When bad cholesterol is elevated in the blood, the doctor prescribes a transition to a dietary diet and taking appropriate medications.

Why high cholesterol is dangerous

Elevated LDL cholesterol in the blood of a woman indicates a health problem, the need to find out the causes and begin adequate treatment of the diagnosed disease.

Cholesterol Increasing Factors:

• age-related changes in women;
• diseases of the heart and blood vessels;
• poor diet with the consumption of large amounts of products containing animal fats;
• obesity;
• low physical activity;
• liver dysfunction;
• diabetes;
• disorders of the thyroid gland;
• smoking, consumption of alcoholic beverages.

An important reason for a woman to increase cholesterol concentration is the onset of menopause, when the body's defenses are reduced.

In women after 50 years of age, high blood cholesterol means a decrease in immunity, a change in hormonal levels. A purely female reason is pregnancy; during the laying of a new organism in the womb, the synthesis of progesterone increases in her body, which ensures the accumulation of fats, and with them - cholesterol.

The doctor explains that a blood test is required to know the cholesterol content, because it is one of the main building materials for new cells, a stimulator of their proper growth.

An increase in cholesterol in a non-pregnant woman leads to its deposition on the walls of blood vessels, the rapid development of atherosclerosis. Cholesterol plaques reduce the lumen of blood vessels, slow down the movement of blood, and impair the nutrition of all organs and systems of a person.

Symptoms of high cholesterol in women

High blood cholesterol in women, with its symptoms does not appear immediately. What this means is due to age-related changes. Then it becomes a pathological condition with gradual progress. Outwardly, high cholesterol is practically not manifested.

It is found in the diagnosis of other pathologies, and it often turns out that the cause of the secondary disease is precisely the excessive background of cholesterol, vasoconstriction. Therefore, women over 50 are advised to carefully monitor their health.

Symptoms of high cholesterol in women are signs of other pathologies:

• angina pectoris;
• atherosclerosis;
• arrhythmias;
• acute heart failure.

But there are more obvious symptoms:

• a gray border appears around the cornea;
• constant weakness of the limbs;
• early gray hair;
• the manifestation of yellowish plaques under the lower eyelids;
• the appearance of xanthomas - rashes on the body in the form of papules;
• subcutaneous formation of cholesterol deposits;
• impairment of memory and attention;
• increased fatigue;
• increased irritability.

When at least 2-3 symptoms are clearly manifested in a woman, she should immediately go to an appointment with a therapist, be tested for the concentration of all types of cholesterol. After the examination, the doctor will prescribe the appropriate treatment.

If the total cholesterol in the blood is elevated in women, this means that she should ask the doctor what type of cholesterol is elevated, what it means, and what to do with it. Most likely, the doctor will recommend a review of the diet, and, against the background of the established diet, will prescribe drug treatment.