Cholesterol: risk groups and cause

| According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in adults. There are certain factors that increase the likelihood of a person suffering from cardiovascular disease, called "risk factors."

Risk factors are divided into two categories: primary and secondary. The so-called primary causes include alterations in certain genes that control the pathways for absorption, manufacture, and elimination of fats. The so-called secondary causes are dyslipidemia due to certain diseases, drug use or poor lifestyle habits such as smoking, alcoholism, sedentary lifestyle and obesity.

The more risk factors a person has, the greater their likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. Still, some risk factors can be modified or treated.

Among the primary causes, the following stand out:

• Sex: men, in general, have a higher risk than women of suffering a cardiovascular event. Women's estrogens protect against heart disease. When the estrogen level decreases with menopause, the risk is equal in both sexes.
• Heredity: the person with a family history of cardiovascular disease has an increased risk.
• Age: with age, the walls of the arteries harden and lose flexibility, increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease. About 4 out of 5 deaths from heart disease occur in people over 65 years of age.

Secondary causes include:

• High blood pressure or hypertension: maintaining high blood pressure increases the risk of vascular disease. In addition, if the person is obese and / or a smoker, the risk is greater.
• High cholesterol: maintaining high blood cholesterol is one of the main cardiovascular risk factors. Cholesterol can be high for several reasons: consumption of a diet rich in animal fats, consumption of some drugs (for example, certain diuretics) and due to the presence of some diseases: thyroid (hypothyroidism), kidney (nephrotic syndrome ) or liver (cholestasis). However, the most common hypercholesterolemia is genetics known as familial hypercholesterolemia.
• diabetes: Maintaining a high level of glucose or blood sugar increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The American heart Association (AHA) confirms that 65% of diabetic patients die from some type of cardiovascular disease.
• Obesity and overweight: excess body fat increases the chances of acquiring other cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, ..)
• smoking: tobacco contains chemicals that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Tobacco especially affects the peripheral vascular system, producing poor venous return (blood vessels that supply the arms and legs).
• Sedentary lifestyle: exercise helps control cholesterol and sugar levels (glycemia) and also lowers blood pressure. Strengthens the heart muscle and makes the arteries more flexible. Therefore, a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease.
• Stress: it is a contributing factor to cardiovascular risk, but each person deals with stress in a different way. Still, maintaining a high and sustained stress level has been found to increase heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline (a hormone that increases blood pressure), and the risk of clot formation (embolism).
• Alcohol: high alcohol consumption increases blood pressure and predisposes to stroke and heart disease.