Cholesterol itself is not so terrible
Is it always worth being afraid of "high cholesterol"?
The other day, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released terrifying data (Cholesterol findings startling): it turns out that out of ten Australians who have elevated cholesterol levels in their blood, nine do not know about it at all and, therefore, put their health at serious risk. But is the threat so great? This question is asked by Paul Glasciu from Bond University (Australia), who devoted material in The Conversation to inconspicuous cholesterol.
There are many physiological nuances, the scientist continues, which become risk factors if they exceed some value. Among them, in addition to cholesterol, one can name blood pressure, indicators related to the work of the kidneys, etc. There is no dispute, if all this deviates too much from the norm, then something really needs to be done. For example, if a person has high blood pressure, some medical measures should be taken to avoid a stroke...
However, moderate deviations from the normal level of the same cholesterol very often do not have symptoms (it does not clog the vessels and does not obstruct blood flow), but at the same time, health services engaged in prevention consider it their duty to point out these indicators as unambiguous risk factors. And this makes people "tense up" and ask for help. Again, if you are overweight, and then cholesterol has risen, then, of course, it is worth removing excess cholesterol. And if everything is fine with the weight? If your grown-up enemy is cholesterol, as they say, by itself? Then, the researcher explains, medical intervention will at best only slightly improve your condition, and at worst - you will experience all the charm of side effects.
Any disease is caused by a number of factors, especially if we are talking about something cardiovascular. And speaking by all the rules, the risk of the disease is determined by the curve drawn by these factors, without withdrawal. That is, we sort of build a graph in which the cholesterol level is combined with the pressure indicators, then, for example, with the number of cigarettes smoked per day, etc.
The only problem is that there is still no unanimous opinion on what the curve separating the normal state from the abnormal should look like.
Simply put, a comprehensive approach is needed here, but there is no agreement on exactly how to "comprehensively approach". Therefore, when assessing the state of health, one or two risk factors are still preferred. That is why a number of physiologists look at such "terrifying" indicators with a certain degree of skepticism, because elevated cholesterol does not mean that you have some kind of metabolic anomaly.
Once again: it is very difficult to predict from cholesterol levels alone whether you are in danger of heart and vascular problems. To do this, you need to add pressure to cholesterol, the presence or absence of diabetes, age, smoking – and only with all this in mind will you be able to more or less reliably assess the likelihood of a heart attack or stroke. Not a very fresh idea, but, as we can see, it has not lost its relevance.
However, the same statistics speak against excessive cholesterol panic, according to which, for example, in Australia the number of deaths due to cardiovascular causes has fallen by 80% since the 1960s and continues to decline.
Of course, it is worth saying thank you to the doctors who save the lives of heart attack patients. However, at the same time, the number of smokers has also decreased (by 30% over the past 20 years), and things with blood pressure have also improved. Therefore, do not be afraid that high cholesterol alone will undermine your health and the health of the entire nation.
Prepared based on the materials of The Conversation: When does ‘abnormal’ actually impact your health?Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru