What is it?

Also known as high cholesterol. Your cholesterol is made up of several parts but essentially is broken down into triglycerides (fats), LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol). LDL and high cholesterol leads to increase of atherosclerotic disease (blocking of vessels) where high HDL levels decrease this risk. The main factors contributing to cholesterol levels are diet, exercise and genetics.

How do you treat it?

Depends on level of cholesterol and comorbidities. Decreasing red meat consumption and high fat foods while increasing aerobic exercise may modestly affect levels. Several classes of medications, most notably -statins, can also greatly help. -Statins in select patient populations has shown to have great benefit in reducing cardiovascular risk in patients.

QUICK LINKS

https://www.healthline.com/health/hyperlipidemia – More about Hyperlipidemia
www.nutritionmd.org/health_care_providers/cardiovascular/hyperlipidemia_nutrition.html – Diet considerations with hyperlipidemia