Cause, treatment and prevention of hyperlipidemia

Hyperlipidemia is a state in which many lipid substances are present in the blood, which are accumulated in the blood vessel wall, causing inflammation and resulting in cardiovascular diseases. Recently, an abnormal blood lipid condition is defined as dyslipidemia.

1. Cause
Genetic factors increase the specific lipid in the blood, often resulting in hyperlipemia, but other causes such as obesity, alcohol and diabetes can also cause hyperlipemia.

2. Symptom
Most of the symptoms are absent, but some complications can lead to symptoms associated with it. For example, a large increase in triglycerides in the blood can lead to pancreatitis, and the symptoms of pancreatitis can be abdominal pain. In some patients, the Achilles tendon may develop a xanthoma (a yellow tumor of cholesterol or other lipids deposited on the skin). Yellow capsules may appear in the eyelids (xanthelasma, the most common form of yellowing in the eyelids).

3. Diagnosis
Measure blood cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL-cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol levels.

4. Inspection
Blood tests are needed after fasting.
If triglyceride levels are below 400 mg / dL, LDL cholesterol levels can be calculated using the following formula:
LDL-cholesterol = total cholesterol levels-triglyceride levels / 5-HDL-cholesterol levels.
If triglyceride levels exceed 400 mg / dL, direct LDL-cholesterol should be measured.

5. Cure
Medication is central to the treatment of hyperlipidemia, along with improving lifestyle through diet control and exercise and maintaining proper body weight. Statin-based drugs are widely used for drug therapy. This drug acts as an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor to inhibit the synthesis of cholesterol. It also reduces the concentration of LDL-cholesterol in the blood and triglycerides Drop it. It also increases HDL-cholesterol, but its effect is minimal because it increases only 5-10% of the original value. Since myopathy may occur rarely, it is necessary to measure serum creatine kinase (CK) levels if myalgia is present at the time of drug administration.

Ezetimibe inhibits the reabsorption of cholesterol in the small intestine and lowers blood LDL-cholesterol, and has additional effects when used with statins. In addition, cholestyramine prevents LDL-cholesterol from being reabsorbed in the small intestine. If the bile acid is not reabsorbed, the liver needs to produce bile acid again. Since cholesterol is synthesized by using cholesterol, cholesterol is decreased by cholesterylamine.

However, because cholestyramine raises triglycerides, it is not prescribed for patients with high blood triglyceride levels. In addition, cholestyramine is effective in staying in the intestine, which may cause symptoms of digestive system (gas stiffness, constipation, etc.).

Niacin lowers blood triglycerides and LDL-cholesterol, while HDL-cholesterol is elevated. The most common side effects are flushing, as well as liver dysfunction and glucose control disorders.

The fibrate formulation is an accelerator for PPAR alpha, which is excellent for lowering triglycerides and also boosts HDL-cholesterol. Side effects can lead to digestive problems and gallstones.

Omega 3 fatty acids, which are a lot of fish oil, are mainly composed of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), and it is effective to drop triglycerides when taking 3-4 g per day.

6. Complications
The biggest problem is the increase in cardiovascular disease due to complications. A high level of triglyceride in the blood can lead to pancreatitis.

7. Prevention Methods
It is important to avoid obesity through proper exercise with diet control.

8. Living Guide
It is necessary to maintain ideal weight and appropriate diet and exercise therapy. If you are overweight, it is helpful to gradually lose weight. Control of other cardiovascular risk factors is necessary.

9. Diet
Limit the intake of fat to 25-35% of total calories. In particular, all animal oils such as beef and lard, butter, shortening, saturated fatty acids such as coconut oil and palm oil are limited to less than 10% of total calories, and omega-3 fatty acids (mainly spiny fish, tuna, Polyunsaturated fat consisting of omega-6 fatty acids (corn oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower seed oil, etc.) is less than 10% of total calories and contains olive oil, peanut Many monounsaturated fats such as oil, canola oil, etc. are limited to less than 20% of total calories.

Also note that excessive intake of carbohydrates can increase triglycerides and decrease HDL-cholesterol.