This is an automatically translated article.
The article was written by Senior Doctor, Specialist II Doan Du Dat - Head of Medical Examination Unit, Department of Medical Examination and Internal Medicine - Vinmec Ha Long International Hospital.There are often many causes of hyperlipidemia, mainly due to an inappropriate lifestyle and eating habits that damage health and reduce the efficiency of lipid metabolism in the blood.
Normally, the group formed on blood lipids includes the following main components:
Total cholesterol, normal < 5.2 mmol/L. Normal triglycerides < 1.7 mmol/L. LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) - Cholesterol (bad cholesterol), normal <3.4 mmol/L. HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) - Cholesterol (good cholesterol), normal > 1.03 mmol/L. Normally, blood fats provide energy for the body and help the growth of cells in the human body.
1. What is the condition of hyperlipidemia?
Is dyslipidemia, also known as dyslipidemia, or fatty blood, is when one or more of the following components in the blood are changed:
Total cholesterol is higher than normal.
Triglycerides increased more than normal. LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) - Cholesterol is higher than normal. HDL (High Density Lipoprotein) - Cholesterol is lower than normal. Blood fat in the human body is formed by 2 sources:
Self-produced by the body and changes with age. Sources from outside in, such as through foods rich in fat, or certain drugs or substances that cause hyperlipidemia. Dyslipidemia can lead to cardiovascular problems such as coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, ... and a series of problems in other organs that can lead to death.
It is possible to review a number of lifestyle causes that cause fatty blood:
Inactivity, overweight, obesity. Smoke. Drink beer. Eat foods high in fat, especially animal fat. Another important cause is heredity: this is a cause related to genetic problems and mutations. This causes problems in cholesterol metabolism, especially in the LDL group. In addition, other causes also affect the process of increasing blood fat such as complications of diseases: diabetes, kidney failure, liver failure, infections, Cushing's syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease,...
Use Contraceptives, diuretics, tranquilizers, ... also have the risk of disrupting lipid metabolism, increasing the amount of fat in the blood.
2. What are its consequences?
The issue that patients are most concerned about is, what effect does high blood fat have on the body, and is it dangerous? In fact, fat is the source of energy for all body activities, so fat is an essential substance. If the amount of fat in the blood is in the normal range, it is not harmful to the body. Only when the amount of fat in the blood is high, dyslipidemia will cause the following complications:Atherosclerosis is the most common complication. When there is too much "bad" cholesterol in the blood, it slowly settles into the walls of blood vessels. Together with a number of other substances, it forms atherosclerotic plaques. Consequences:
+ Atherosclerotic plaques gradually narrow or completely block the vessel. The narrowing of the blood vessel leads to a chronic decrease in blood supply to the organs, which can cause heart failure, cerebral ischemia, especially a life-threatening myocardial infarction...
+ Atheroma plaques peel off out and follow the blood flow to the organs, causing occlusion of blood vessels in these organs. If coronary artery occlusion causes myocardial infarction. Cerebral embolism causes cerebral infarction (cerebral stroke), which is the cause of sudden, rapid death. or thrombosis of limbs, visceral vessels....
+ High triglycerides lead to fatty liver. In the long term, fatty liver will progress to hepatitis, cirrhosis and liver cancer. Long-term elevation of triglycerides also increases the risk of diabetes. Triglyceride too high, over 11.3mmol/L can cause acute pancreatitis, pancreatic necrosis. This is a very difficult disease to treat, with a high risk of death.
3. How to prevent and control it?
When you have been diagnosed by a doctor with hyperlipidemia, you want to control it and prevent complications of this disease, it is important to change your lifestyle and treat with lipid-lowering drugs as prescribed by your doctor. . You should adhere to the following:
The most important thing is to adjust your diet and activities. It is necessary to avoid or reduce the intake of animal fats, egg yolks, animal viscera (liver, intestines, sausages...), cheeses, whole milk... Increase the intake of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. cereals. The amount of starch accounts for about 55 - 60% of the diet. This diet needs to be maintained regularly for a long time. For overweight and obese patients, it is necessary to lose weight by reducing daily food intake and exercising. Increase reasonable physical exercise, or walk and exercise for at least 40 minutes/day regularly every day, to lose weight so that BMI reaches from 18.5 - 23 kg/m2. Daily exercise helps to lose weight, burn excess body fat, and help patients love life and be happier. Exercise also helps reduce “bad” cholesterol and increase “good” cholesterol. This is extremely beneficial for patients with dyslipidemia. Should quit bad habits such as smoking, pipe tobacco, drinking alcohol because it adversely affects blood lipid disorders and harms other organs in the body. It is necessary to adhere to the treatment prescribed by the doctor. Do not increase the dose or stop taking it on your own. Treatment of dyslipidemia requires long-term persistence. Even with medication, patients must also adjust their diet and activities. You should tell your doctor right away if you have any unusual or uncomfortable symptoms while taking this medicine. Because drugs to treat dyslipidemia also have undesirable effects, although rare. Patients should monitor their blood lipids regularly, about every 6-8 weeks. It is advisable to have regular check-ups to promptly detect complications of the disease and treat them early. Avoid stress, avoid pessimistic thoughts. A relaxed, happy, and optimistic attitude to life contributes greatly to the treatment of the disease.
4. When prescribed blood lipid-lowering drugs
Usually, your doctor prescribes a statin (Crestor, Lipitor..), or fibrate (Lipanthyl..) ), lovastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin, atorvastatin (lipitor). These drugs inhibit the enzyme HMG-CoA Reductase, reduce cholesterol synthesis in hepatocytes and increase the activation of LDL receptors, thereby reducing LDL-C in the blood. However, when using the drug, patients may experience: indigestion, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, abdominal pain, headache, insomnia. Statin should not be used in patients with advanced liver disease, myalgia, polymyositis... Note: liprobay (cerivastatin) has now been withdrawn from the market due to dangerous side effects causing rhabdomyolysis. used in conjunction with fibrates.Fibrate derivatives (fibric acid): Including gemfibrozil (lopid), clofibrat (lipavlon), fenofibrate (lipanthyl, tricor), bezafibrat (benzalip). Possible side effects are facial swelling, abdominal pain, nausea, headache, rash... You need to pay attention to strictly follow the doctor's instructions, after the first month of use, you need to go. Double check specifically to see if the fish affects the liver and skeletal muscle? During the time of taking the drug, if you see any abnormalities, you should stop taking the medicine and notify the doctor again.
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