High cholesterol, also known as hypercholesterolemia, is a condition in which a waxy substance found in your blood builds up in blood vessel walls. It may narrow or block the vessels and increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

High cholesterol usually doesn’t cause any symptoms. That’s why routine blood cholesterol screening is important if you’re at risk.

The Cava Medical Group lets you know when to undergo cholesterol screening based on your age and risk factors.

While high cholesterol can happen to anyone, common risk factors for developing it include:

• Obesity
• Poor dietary habits
• Eating a lot of animal fats
• Smoking
• Physical inactivity
• Diabetes
• Older age

Complications that can occur with untreated high cholesterol include stroke, heart attack, and other heart or blood vessel disorders.

Ways to reduce your risk of high cholesterol include eating healthy foods, maintaining a healthy weight, getting regular exercise, properly managing stress, and not smoking or drinking alcohol in excess.

To diagnose high cholesterol and develop a treatment plan, South Bay Internal Medicine & Family Practice reviews your personal and family medical history and asks questions about your lifestyle.

They can diagnose high cholesterol using a simple blood test.

The main treatments for high cholesterol include:

Healthy habits
You may be able to lower high cholesterol by eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables (but low in added sugar, processed foods, and animal fats).

Get regular exercise, lose weight if you’re overweight, don’t smoke or drink a lot of alcohol, and take dietary supplements if your doctor recommends it.

Medications
Cholesterol-lowering medications can reduce high cholesterol if lifestyle changes haven’t worked.

Even if you take medications for high cholesterol, adopting healthy habits might reduce the amount of medications you need to take or allow you to stop taking medications in the future.

Don’t let high cholesterol cause serious problems for your health, contact us today.