Increased cholesterol in men

The article is written by MSc. Specialist II Pham Tuyet Trinh - Head of Inpatient Unit, Cardiology Center - Vinmec Times City International General Hospital.

Men with high cholesterol will have a high risk of cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and peripheral artery disease. But this risk begins to appear in your 20s and increases with age.

1. Why should you be concerned about high cholesterol in men?

High cholesterol can be familial, so genes have a clear role to play in this disease. However, many lifestyle factors are also the cause of high cholesterol such as diet, physical activity and body weight.
The only way to know your cholesterol level is with a simple blood test. It is recommended that men from 20 years old should have their cholesterol tested every 5 years. If you have high cholesterol, you will be consulted and monitored by your doctor.
In Vietnam, a high percentage of men use alcohol at a high rate, eat a lot of starch, and eat foods containing a lot of saturated fat, thus greatly affecting cholesterol levels.

2. What is increased cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a type of fat, made in the liver and some other cells, it is also found in some foods such as meat, eggs... The body needs cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D, and bile acids. Helps with digestion. But the body only needs a certain amount of cholesterol, too much will cause some health problems such as heart disease.
There are different types of cholesterol and with a certain ratio between the components in the blood, excess fat forms plaque on the inner walls of blood vessels.

HDL và LDL Cholesterol — Trong cơ thể con người có nhiều loại cholesterol khác nhau với nhiệm vụ vai trò nhất định

This plaque can block blood flow to the heart muscle, reduce oxygen supply to the heart muscle, cause anemia and myocardial hypoxia, then cause chest pain or shortness of breath. A heart attack occurs when this plaque completely blocks the lumen of a blood vessel. If this blockage is in a blood vessel in the brain, you could have a stroke.
Types of cholesterol that play a role in atheroma: LDL - low molecular weight cholesterol - also known as bad fat; HDL – which is high molecular weight cholesterol – is known as good fat.

What are the risk factors for high cholesterol
Diet high in saturated fat; These fats are found in meat, eggs, butter, whole milk, and offal. Eat processed foods, foods containing artificial fats, foods high in carbohydrates that raise LDL and lower HDL: fast food, fried foods Overweight and obese people also have high LDL and low HDL People With little physical activity, research shows that physical activity can increase HDL levels.

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Articles refer to the source: webmd.com

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