Does high cholesterol lead to fatigue, pain, and various other symptoms? And, can we detect high cholesterol before damage is done to our bodies?
Cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, are fats in the blood that lead to vascular and heart disease when their levels are too high. Early detection of high cholesterol levels can allow for medication and/or nutritional treatment following medical advice, thus reducing the risk of illness and death. If you don’t know your cholesterol levels already, it will be difficult to identify the presence of high cholesterol, unless you have reached very high levels; high cholesterol is often a silent disease. Therefore, it is recommended to have periodic routine blood tests to detect blood lipid levels.
High Cholesterol May First Present Itself with Fatigue
Fatigue, limb pain, shortness of breath, and other symptoms are not symptoms of high cholesterol by itself, but they are related to it. So what is the connection between these symptoms and having elevated cholesterol levels? The connection between them lies in diseases and medical conditions caused by cholesterol. In other words, high cholesterol leads to diseases and medical conditions such as atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. These diseases cause functional problems and symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, cold sweats, pain in the limbs, and more. Therefore, symptoms of heart-related diseases such as fatigue and shortness of breath can sometimes be identified as signaling high cholesterol levels as well.
Let’s Discuss the Cholesterol Levels
Normal LDL cholesterol levels are in the range of 70-100 milligrams per deciliter. On the other hand, LDL cholesterol levels above 100 milligrams per deciliter are not considered good and are a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and premature death. Normal HDL Cholesterol levels are around 35-65 milligrams per deciliter for men and 35-80 milligrams per deciliter for women. Above that range is considered high. Last, total cholesterol values below 200 milligrams per deciliter are considered normal. Cholesterol levels above 200 milligrams per deciliter are no longer healthy values and a total cholesterol reading above 240 milligrams per deciliter is considered high risk for heart disease.
