When you have higher-than-normal LDL levels, a person can often be called “high cholesterol.”
This condition can increase the risk of developing several health problems.
Launch Medical News Today, cholesterol can accumulate in the arteries which are the main blood vessels in the body.
As a result, blood vessels can become narrower, limiting the supply of blood and oxygen to the organs.
Narrowing of blood vessels can also increase the risk of blood clots.
If blood flow to the heart is restricted, this condition can increase the risk of coronary heart disease. These include angina, heart attack, and heart failure.
Meanwhile, if blood flow to the brain is restricted, this can increase the risk of stroke.
Eating too much cholesterol is not only bad for the health of the heart and blood vessels, but also the liver.
It may even be worse for your heart.
Reported from WebMD, Cholesterol from food ends up mostly in the liver.
A high-cholesterol diet can cause fat to build up around your liver.
This scenario can cause disease fatty liver non-alcoholic or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
High cholesterol It can also turn fatty liver disease (steatosis) into a more serious and sometimes fatal condition known as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Unfortunately, when illness fatty liver has changed to NASH, it can lead to other liver diseases including:
Reported from Health Line, Liver disease itself can cause damage to the liver which means it can’t work properly.
In fact, one of the functions of the liver is to break down cholesterol.
If the liver does not work properly, it can also cause cholesterol to build up in the body.
How to diagnose high cholesterol
Usually, high cholesterol does not cause any symptoms.
However, a simple blood test can accurately measure cholesterol levels.
A doctor may recommend a cholesterol test if a person has a family history of heart disease, a medical condition such as diabetes, or if you are overweight.
Meanwhile, liver biopsy or liver function tests are usually used to diagnose liver disease.
A biopsy will remove a small piece of liver tissue to test for disease.
Liver function tests are blood tests that can measure proteins and enzymes in the blood.
The levels of these proteins and enzymes can indicate if the liver is damaged.