What Causes High Cholesterol In Women? Prevention Methods!
Cholesterol is a waxy kind of substance that is present in your blood. Your body requires cholesterol to develop healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol can increase the risk of heart disease in the body.
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High Cholesterol In Women – What Are The Surprising Causes?
With higher cholesterol levels, unwanted fat is deposited in your blood vessels. Ultimately, these deposits increase and making it tough for sufficient blood to flow through your arteries. Sometimes, these fat deposits can break your vessels suddenly as well as cause a stroke or heart attack.
A healthy diet, exercise on regular basis as well as sometimes medication can help you overcome the high cholesterol level.
Some Major Causes For High Cholesterol In Women
1. Medications May Be Harmful
There may be some unforeseen effects that may occur due to the intake of some drugs. These contain certain corticosteroids, birth control pills, antivirals, retinoids, as well as anticonvulsants.
Above mentioned medications can lead to higher cholesterol levels.
Some tablets for high blood pressure like older forms of beta-blockers and diuretics can also increase your cholesterol level.
You must consult your doctor before the consumption of any medications.
2. Stress Can Boost Cholesterol
Chronic stress can be the reason for numerous health problems, including high cholesterol levels.
Study reveals that it increases your risk of reducing levels of HDL (“good”) cholesterol and can increase high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol level in the body.
The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol can make changes that may lead to higher blood sugar as well as inflammation.
Gradually, this may cause your liver to pump out additional cholesterol and blood fats which are known as triglycerides.
3. Too Much Alcohol consumption
Your liver can break down both alcohol and cholesterol in the body. So, when you consume too much alcohol then it can affect your cholesterol synthesis.
It has been revealed through one research that women who drank roughly 4½ drinks or more at once had worse cholesterol levels, compared to those who did not consume alcohol.
4. Sitting A Lot
It does not matter that it’s at your desk or on a couch; sitting for too much time on end is not good for your health. It is associated with heart disease, obesity, as well as high cholesterol.
When you sit for too much time, an enzyme that converts harmful LDL cholesterol into good HDL cholesterol drops by 95%.
So to avoid your heart problem you should take frequent breaks. At least go for a 5-minute walk every hour.
5. Pregnancy
Your body utilizes cholesterol to support the fetus’s increment and development during the time of pregnancy. In this condition, your cholesterol levels may boost up to 50% in the second and third trimesters.
They can stay raised for about a month after birth. This temporary spike generally does not harm the baby or mom. But if your already cholesterol level is high then your doctor will ask you to keep track of your levels.
6. Thyroid Issues
Thyroid hormones support your liver process of blood.
When your thyroid hormone levels are less, your liver processes blood more slowly, which can cause higher levels of cholesterol in your bloodstream. That can lead to the development of cholesterol in your arteries.
When To See A Doctor
According to NHLBI, a person must take cholesterol screening between the ages of 9 and 11, and then it should be frequent in five years.
The NHLBI suggests that cholesterol tests should occur every one to two years for women ages 55 to 65. People who are above 65 should receive cholesterol tests yearly.
Your doctor might also recommend more-frequent tests to you if there is any genetic problem found about high cholesterol in your family.
Prevention
A healthy lifestyle can overcome your high cholesterol. It can support and prevent you from having high cholesterol in the first place. To avoid high cholesterol, you can do such things:
- Quit smoking
- You should work to reduce extra pounds and keep a healthy weight
- Eat whole grains, a low-salt diet that emphasizes fruits, and vegetables in your daily meal
- You should include exercise on most days of the week for at least 30 minutes
- Drink alcohol at the limit
- Manage stress may be beneficial to prevent high cholesterol
