HIGH cholesterol occurs when you have too much of a fatty substance called cholesterol in your blood. It normally does not have any overt symptoms, though there are some signs which you may experience in your hands and feet.
You can find out if you have high cholesterol from a blood test. As high cholesterol levels tend not to cause any symptoms and in most cases, only cause emergency events, it is important to get yours checked. Nonetheless, there are some possible warning signs of high cholesterol symptoms.
Medicover Hospitals’ health site has outlined some physical symptoms that can indicate high cholesterol levels.
These may occur in your hands or feet, as well as in other areas of your body.
If you experience pain in your hand or feet, this may be due to an accumulation of cholesterol that can clog the blood vessels of legs and hands, according to the site.
It says: “This build-up of cholesterol can occur continuously and make the hands and feet painful.”
It says frequent tingling may be a sign, as interruptions in the blood flow to certain parts of the body make a tingling sensation in the hands and legs.
“The high cholesterol levels in the blood make the blood flow thick and affect the normal flow of blood in the nerves and cause tingling,” it says.
Moreover, you may experience chest pain in the left side.
When LDL or “bad” cholesterol builds on the walls of the arteries, inflammatory substances are released in the body which can hike the risk of a heart attack.
As a general guide, the NHS recommends that total cholesterol levels should be 5mmol/L or less for healthy adults.
In the UK, three out of five adults have total cholesterol levels of 5mmol/L.The NHS says high cholesterol is mainly caused by eating fatty food, not exercising enough, being overweight, smoking, and drinking alcohol.
“You can lower your cholesterol by eating healthily and getting more exercise. Some people also need to take medicine,” it says.
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