But I feel fine!
High cholesterol is not a disease in itself, neither does it produce any symptoms, but it is a risk factor for more serious health problems including heart disease and stroke. A high level of bad (LDL) cholesterol in your blood can lead to clogged arteries (also called atherosclerosis), which in turn can lead to heart attacks and stroke. You may only realise you have high cholesterol when you have symptoms linked to clogged arteries.
What are clogged arteries?
If you have high levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol in your blood you are more likely to develop a build-up of fatty deposits, cholesterol and waste products in your artery walls. These build-ups are known as fatty plaques.
Over time (this may be some years, but it can occur quickly in some people) these fatty plaques become bigger and bigger, narrowing the arteries or blocking them completely. The fatty plaques may also break-up at any time and a blood clot can develop. This leads to partially or completely block arteries and problems with blood flow. Eventually it can lead to heart attacks, strokes and even death. To see how high levels of bad cholesterol can lead to clogged arteries and heart problems click here.
How do I know if I have clogged arteries?
- Chest pain (also called angina) is caused by severe narrowing of the arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle. It feels like a heavy crushing pain or a tightening feeling in the centre or left side of the chest. The pain can spread out to one (usually the left) or both arms or shoulders, or the back or jaw. It usually occurs when the heart muscle is not getting as much oxygen as it needs from the blood, for example during exercise or stress.
- Heart attack (also called myocardial infarction) is caused by a blockage in the arteries supplying the heart muscle. The most common signs of a heart attack are a crushing pain in the chest, shortness of breath, feeling clammy and sweaty, a grey look to the skin and dizziness.
- Leg pain when exercising (also called intermittent claudication) is caused by a blockage in the arteries supplying blood to the legs. If the blood flow is severely affected then you may feel severe pain in your leg, especially your calf muscles. In addition parts of the leg may become pale or turn blue, and feel cold to touch.
- Stroke is caused by a blockage of an artery in the brain. Because the brain controls everything that we do, damage to it can have devastating effects, including death. The effects of a stroke will depend on whereabouts in the brain the blood clot occurs, but can include loss of speech and restricted movement along one side of the body.
- Mini-stroke (also called transient ischaemic attack or TIA) is caused by a temporary reduction in blood and oxygen to the brain. Symptoms are similar to those of a normal stroke but they last less than
24 hours. - Thick yellow patches (also called xanthomas) around the eyes or other places on the skin caused by build-up of cholesterol in these places.
If you have any of the symptoms listed above you should contact your doctor immediately, but if you think you may be having a heart attack or stroke you
should call the emergency services IMMEDIATELY.
Remember that you may not have any symptoms until it is too late. You should also remember that even though you have high cholesterol you might not develop clogged arteries, but you have a much higher chance of doing so.
To minimise your risk of serious health problems it is very important that you
lower your cholesterol and keep it low and visit your doctor regularly for
check-ups and to get your cholesterol tested. Remember if you haven’t already, get your cholesterol checked today!
