What causes high cholesterol?
What causes high cholesterol?
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There are several other diseases (specifically, diabetes and some forms of thyroid, liver, and kidney diseases) that can cause high cholesterol, and your physician should check for these as part of the evaluation. Some medications can alter the levels of cholesterol and/or triglycerides.
However, it is most frequently caused by a combination of diet and genetic factors built in to a person’s make-up. Even patients with "great genes" for cholesterol metabolism can overwhelm the system by pursuing an inactive lifestyle, gaining an imprudent amount of weight, and eating a high fat diet. Many more people don’t even need to try very hard to get a high cholesterol because their livers don’t handle even a moderate amount of saturated fat and cholesterol intake well.The following factors may contribute to high cholesterol:
A high-saturated-fat, high-cholesterol diet. Saturated fats and cholesterol are found mostly in foods that come from animals, such as beef, pork, veal, milk, butter, and cheese. Also, many processed foods contain saturated fats such as coconut oil, palm oil, or cocoa butter. Saturated fats are hard at room temperature and include hardened liquid vegetable oils such as stick margarine and shortening. Trans fatty acids or partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, such as those found in hard margarines, snack crackers, cookies, chips, and shortenings, may also increase cholesterol levels. Mono- or polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in olive, canola, safflower, and peanut oils, may improve cholesterol levels when substituted for saturated fats or trans fatty acids.
Being overweight, which may increase triglycerides and decrease high density lipoproteins
Lack of physical activity, which may increase LDL and decrease HDL
Your age and sex. Cholesterol levels normally begin to rise after age 20 in both men and women. In men, cholesterol levels generally level off after age 50. In women, cholesterol levels stay relatively low until menopause, after which they rise to about the same level as in men.
Health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or hypothyroidism
Your family history. A consistent pattern of early coronary artery disease (before age 55 in a man and before age 65 in a woman) in a family may mean that people in that family have an inherited tendency for high cholesterol levels.
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