Many people have high cholesterol because of physical inactivity or a diet too high in saturated fats, or because it runs in the family. But having other health conditions can also cause high cholesterol levels, especially conditions that affect your metabolism, such as diabetes (high blood sugar) or hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid).
High Cholesterol: The Big Picture
When the body’s metabolism — the process by which the body turns food into energy — is affected by a health problem, cholesterol levels in the blood are often affected, too. Figuring out the best way to treat high cholesterol starts with understanding why it’s happening; identifying other health problems is a primary consideration. “When we see people who come in for assessment of an elevated form of LDL cholesterol or triglycerides, we always want to look for associated metabolic abnormalities,” says cardiologist Stephen J. Nicholls, PhD, professor of cardiology at the University of Adelaide in Australia. High cholesterol treatment is about “managing not just one risk factor in our patients, but the whole picture,” says Dr. Nicholls. “It’s often important to keep that in mind when you’re looking at a patient and their cholesterol levels.”
Health Conditions That Lead to High Cholesterol
A number of health conditions can lead to high cholesterol levels, and high cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, including heart attack. Knowing your risk is the first step to prevention. Health conditions known to increase cholesterol levels include:
Diabetes (insufficient production of the hormone insulin)ObesityKidney diseaseCushing syndrome (an excess production of hormones)Hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid)Liver diseases including cirrhosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitisAlcoholism
These health conditions raise cholesterol levels for different reasons. First, the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood essentially reflect the body’s metabolism of the fat that we eat in a day, says Nicholls. “Diabetes and thyroid disorders can affect the way we metabolize cholesterol and triglycerides,” which then has a direct effect on triglyceride and cholesterol levels in the blood, he says. So when these conditions slow down metabolism, the body isn’t able to process everything it needs to, including fats and cholesterol. In conditions like alcoholism and liver disease, the liver is not functioning at full capacity, so it can’t metabolize all of the saturated fat from the diet and the cholesterol that the body produces. Because of this, cholesterol builds up in the blood, Nicholls explains.
How to Prevent High Cholesterol
If you have any of the health conditions listed above, you’re at risk for developing high cholesterol — but you can take steps to prevent it. Getting regular exercise and improving your diet by reducing your intake of foods high in saturated fat (like butter, full-fat dairy, and fats from animal products) can go a long way to keep cholesterol levels down and protect your heart health. Discuss your risk of high cholesterol with your doctor. Monitoring your cholesterol levels with a simple blood test is important for getting to a healthy goal and lowering your risk of heart attack. Your doctor may recommend that you take a cholesterol-lowering medication, if needed, to get to the cholesterol level that’s best for you to keep your risk of heart disease as low as possible.
