12 million people in France have high LDL cholesterol 鈥� what this means
The lifestyle factors and treatments explained
LDL is referred to as 鈥榖ad cholesterol鈥� because of links to heart disease
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A recent conference on cholesterol reported that 12 million people in France suffer from excess LDL cholesterol, a factor in heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.
Cholesterol is a fat-like substance mostly produced by the liver, and while it is crucial to healthy body function, an excess can lead to fatal diseases: the World Heart Federation states that high cholesterol causes 7.8% of all deaths every year.
What is LDL cholesterol?
The natural fatty substance we know as cholesterol is carried in our blood by lipoproteins, mainly LDL (low-density lipoproteins) and HDL (high-density lipoproteins), but having these two types can cause confusion.
Most cholesterol in your body is LDL, nicknamed the 鈥榖ad鈥� cholesterol because it can stick to the walls of your arteries and impede blood flow, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke. The 鈥榞ood鈥� one is HDL as it actually absorbs cholesterol in the blood and carries it back to the liver, which then flushes it from the body.
Look for the letters: you ideally want your LDL to be low and your HDL to be high.
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Symptoms and causes of high cholesterol
Unfortunately, there are usually no symptoms with high cholesterol levels; a blood test is the only way to find out.
Most at risk are men over 50, women post-menopause, and there is a certain genetic predisposition, particularly if you are South Asian or from sub-Saharan Africa.
The Ameli website states that you will be at higher risk if you have a sedentary lifestyle and do insufficient physical activity, if you are overweight and/or have an unbalanced diet.
This is echoed by other experts who say that fatty food, smoking and drinking alcohol can lead to hypercholest茅rol茅mie: high levels of the 鈥榖ad鈥� LDL cholesterol.
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Diagnosis of high cholesterol
Only a blood test can reveal your LDLc and HDLc, and it will also show your levels of triglycerides, the most common type of fat in the body.
Being overweight, eating a lot of fatty and sugary foods or drinking too much alcohol can raise triglyceride levels and it is a third component, alongside your LDLc and HDLc, that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Without any other risk factors, Ameli says that the following levels are considered normal:
- total cholesterol below 2 g/l;
- LDLc lower than 1.6 g/l;
- HDLc higher than 0.4 g/l (ideally over 0.5 g/L for women).
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Treatments for high cholesterol
Unsurprisingly, the first recommendations from the French health service are to stop smoking and to increase your physical activity 鈥� for example, rapid walking for 30 minutes a day, five times a week.
It also recommends adapting your diet so that you reach a suitable weight for your height. This means consuming minimal amounts of animal fats, pastries and cakes, and boosting your intake of dietary fibre such as oats, pulses, fruit, vegetables, wholegrain cereals and wholemeal bread.
If lifestyle changes are not enough, your doctor will prescribe medication such as statins to lower your cholesterol and/or triglycerides.
They will also check for underlying causes such as hypothyroidism or kidney disease; treating these will also treat your cholesterol levels.
If you are unsure about your cholesterol levels, consider asking your doctor for a prescription to get a blood test. This is the first step to ensuring your levels are as they should be.
