‘Charley Horse’ Is A Symptom Of Artery Clogging Caused By Cholesterol

Today, most people are diagnosed with cholesterol irrespective of their sex, age, etc. changing lifestyles suck the disease. People became sick and are diagnosed with high cholesterol due to eating excessive fatty food, lack of physical activities, smoking, and drinking habits. It is necessary to take care of your high cholesterol before it affects the other parts of your body.

When you have too much fatty substance in your blood, your body starts to give some warnings regarding the condition. The studies suggest that charley horse is the first symptom of cholesterol clogging your arteries. Normally, fatty substances are reluctant to show symptoms.

But when it started to affect your arteries, the signs gradually appear in your body. One of the symptoms can strike your leg. The term used for muscle spasm or cramp is known as charley horse. The muscles suddenly tighten up and the cramps can occur in any muscle in your body.

But it mainly happens in the leg. Intense leg cramps indicate the symptom of a high cholesterol level. It gradually damages the arteries of the lower limbs. The cramps may cause severe pain in the forefoot, heel, and toes.

How Does High-Level Cholesterol Affect The Arteries?

This symptom begins after the high-level cholesterol affects the arteries. The pain occurs during exercise time. Leg cramps affect people who have almost 50 years old. These muscle contractions badly affect people who have already taken medications for certain health conditions and pregnant people also. 

High-level cholesterol builds a block in your arteries. The fatty substance deposit in your arteries gradually leads to cardiovascular disease. Apart from cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium, and fibrin promote plaque accumulation in the arteries.

The excessive amount of plaque stored in the arteries becomes thick and stiff during the process. The condition affects your blood flow, especially in the legs. This symptom can affect the whole body as well. 

According to a source, the lack of blood flow in the legs can lead to a condition called peripheral artery disease or PAD. This is a condition of gathering plaque in the arteries in your arms and legs. It is a long-term disease. The people who have been facing this situation may have severe muscle pains.

Therefore, the blood can not carry the oxygens and nutrients to the tissues of the areas. The first symptom of PAD can be identified with muscle cramps(charley horse) The muscles contract their own and you feel pain in those areas. In some cases, people who have peripheral artery disease may have numbness. They may have some changes in sensation.

Gradually it loses the sensation in a part of your body. It occurs due to the lack of proper blood flow in your nearby nerves. What’s the common feature between PAD and high cholesterol is, both of them are reluctant to show the signs in the first stage. It’s hard to identify the symptoms of both conditions.

The best way to identify the cholesterol level is to take a blood test to know about the total amount of cholesterol. The result also gives a separate count for low-density lipoprotein level (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein level(HDL) in the body.

The doctors test the blood on your arm or do a finger-prick test. Once you detected high cholesterol, there are plenty of options are there to decrease the bad cholesterol level. The main change should be started with your daily habits and food consumption.

Heart- healthy diet and cholesterol-busting medicines like statins are helpful for reducing the excessive fatty substance in the blood. Lowering the consumption of saturated fat and trans fat can make a big difference.

Avoiding certain types of cheese, biscuits, butter, and sausages can burn high cholesterol. A healthy diet is not only a solution for reducing cholesterol.

In addition, moderate levels of alcohol consumption and quitting smoking habits are also essential for maintaining a healthy cholesterol level in the body.