Cholesterol is a fatty substance produced by your liver, which is found in your blood. Cholesterol is needed to help build healthy cells. Low levels of cholesterol are considered healthy and normal.

Cholesterol is split into two broad types:

High-density lipoproteins (HDL) – known as ‘good’ cholesterol – help remove ‘bad’ cholesterol by taking it back to the liver to be filtered and removed from the body.

Non-high-density lipoproteins (non-HDL or LDL) – known as ‘bad’ cholesterol – stay in the body and help build up fatty deposits.

High levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol mean too much cholesterol is in the blood. This can lead to severe complications with the heart as fatty deposits develop in your blood vessels, causing blockages.

Your lifestyle plays a large part in whether your cholesterol is high or not, particularly your diet. Consuming high levels of alcohol and foods with saturated fats, such as fatty cuts of meat or cheese, will increase your cholesterol to high levels.

Smoking can reduce HDL cholesterol, making ‘bad’ cholesterol stickier in your blood vessels and damaging their walls. Whatever your symptoms, we recommend quitting smoking if you can.

Being inactive can also increase your ‘bad’ cholesterol levels and decrease your ‘good’ cholesterol levels.

Some other factors that may make you susceptible to high cholesterol include:

• Your age
• Your sex (men are more likely to have higher cholesterol than women)
• Your ethnic background
• Menopause
• Your family history/genetic conditions – If you have a family history of heart attacks or stroke, particularly if these occurred at a young age, this could indicate you may be genetically predisposed to raised cholesterol levels.
• Stress
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding

Medical conditions that can cause high cholesterol include:

• Gout
• Type 2 diabetes
• Hyperthyroidism
• Kidney or liver problems
• Growth hormone deficiency (GHD)

Making key lifestyle changes is the primary way to reduce your cholesterol levels. Making sure you eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, exercise regularly, and reduce alcohol and smoking can make significant differences in lowering your levels. Read more about how to keep your heart healthy in our blog: How to keep your heart healthy.

You can also check out our leading Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Syed Ahsan’s tips for managing cholesterol.

If your cholesterol is still high after making fundamental lifestyle changes, your GP or medical practitioner may recommend taking medication to lower your levels.

Medication can also be prescribed to help control high cholesterol. Statins are usually recommended to help lower cholesterol. They block a crucial substance in the liver necessary for its production, which allows the liver to break down existing cholesterol in the body and lower levels of non-HDL. You will most likely be on statins for the rest of your life if you take this medication.