Dyslipidemia Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Have you ever heard of Dyslipidemia? If you haven’t, Dyslipidemia can be defined as a medical condition where a person has an abnormal level of lipids in their blood. Normally, human blood is composed of three types of lipids such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and triglycerides. Having Dyslipidemia can mean either of two things. One, your triglycerides or LDL are higher than expected and two, your HDL is too low. LDL cholesterol is regarded as bad cholesterol because once they build up, they cause plaques or clumps in your arterial walls and in extreme cases, these plaques may lead to heart attack. On the other hand, HDL is usually regarded as good cholesterol as it’s effective in removing LDL from your blood. Now that you know what Dyslipidemia is, keep scrolling and learn more about its causes, symptoms and treatment.

Symptoms of Dyslipidemia

Unless in severe cases, a person might not tell if he or she has Dyslipidemia. However, it can be detected by a doctor when doing a test for another condition or through a blood test. When untreated, Dyslipidemia may lead to other health conditions such as peripheral artery disease (PAD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) both of which lead to serious conditions such as strokes and heart attack. These conditions have the following symptoms;
• Chest pain
• Leg pain particularly standing or walking
• Heartburn and indigestion
• Shortness of breath
• Pain in the neck, back, shoulders, and jaw
• Sleeping problems
• Heart palpitations
• Dizziness
• Cold sweats
• Vomiting and nausea
• Fainting
• Swelling in the ankles, legs, stomach, and feet

These symptoms may get worse especially when you’re active so it’s recommendable to seek medical advice. If you experience dizziness, chest pain, breathing problems or fainting, seek emergency care. After all, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Causes of Dyslipidemia

There are various factors ranging from lifestyle to inherited disorders that cause Dyslipidemia. Basically, there are two types of Dyslipidemia namely primary and secondary Dyslipidemia. Primary Dyslipidemia can be regarded as abnormal lipid levels in your blood which is caused by genetic disorder inherited from your parents. This might be referred to as ‘familial’ Dyslipidemia meaning that it is inherited from parents to the children.

Secondary Dyslipidemia is very common and has been associated with certain medical conditions or your lifestyle. With this in mind, secondary Dyslipidemia can be caused by;
• Lack of exercise that may lead to obesity
• Diabetes
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• Alcoholism
• Liver disease
• Excessive fat consumption
• Cigarette smoking
• Hypothyroidism
• Severe infection like HIV
• Cushing’s syndrome
• Inflammatory bowel disease

Treatment

Even though the treatment of Dyslipidemia depends on its severity and underlying causes, your physician will be looking forward to lowering the levels of LDL and triglyceride. If you have high cholesterol levels, your physician will recommend lipid-modifying medications. They include;
• Statins
• Niacin
• Ezetimibe
• Fibrates
• Bile acid sequestrants
• Lomitapide and mipomersen
• Evolocumab and alirocumab

Interestingly, Dyslipidemia can be treated naturally through;
• Regular exercise
• Moderate intake of unhealthy fats for instance those found in chips, chocolate, dairy products
• Reduce alcohol consumption
• Quit smoking
• Take omega-3 oil
• Increase the intake of healthy polyunsaturated fats like those found in fish, legumes, olive oil, whole grains
• Getting enough sleep
• Drinking plenty of water