Healthy SoFlo Issue 50

HEALTHY LIFESTYLE · JULY 2017
Hyperlipidemia in
Early Adulthood
Increases Long-
Term Risk
of Coronary
Heart Disease
Recent research by Duke
University reports that a
prolonged diagnosis of
hyperlipidemia in young
adulthood does raise
the risk of developing
CHD, Coronary Heart Disease, in the
future.
It is widely known that hyperlipidemia is
a term that encompasses many different
disorders. Its implications can be a direct
result of many factors including certain
genetic disorders. What it means to
have hyperlipidemia is that one might
experience high levels of fats circulating
in the bloodstream including fats,
cholesterol, and triglycerides. When these
fats (lipids) enter artery walls, they can,
and most often do, increase a person's
risk of developing atherosclerosis, or the
hardening of the arteries). That increase
can lead to conditions like strokes, heart
attacks, and perhaps the need to amputate
a limb if necessary. Risk factors for early
adults with hyperlipidemia increase with
other comorbidities like diabetes, history
of smoking, high blood pressure and renal
insufficiency.
Hyperlipidemia is a chronic condition that
requires ongoing medications, such as statins
or fenofibrates, to control blood lipid levels.
It is most often found in people living in
the United States and Europe due to the
prevalence of those who follow a high-fat
diet.
THE SYMPTOMS OF
HYPERLIPIDEMIA INCLUDE:
Elevated blood lipid levels upon
testing that have no known cause
Symptoms that develop following
a diagnosis of atherosclerosis
Angina and heart attacks caused
by narrow heart arteries
Strokes
Pain with walking and or a
diagnosis of gangrene
It should be noted that hyperlipidemia in
itself doesn't cause symptoms, it can increase
the risk of developing cardiovascular disease,
including diseases associated with the blood
vessels that supply the heart (coronary artery
disease), the brain (cerebrovascular disease),
and the limbs (peripheral vascular disease).
The implications of an early adulthood
diagnosis drastically increase the risk of
developing more serious comorbidities that
can be detrimental to one's health over the
long term.
Other factors increase the risks even more,
like gender, age, family history of coronary
disease at a young age in a parents or a
sibling, particularly a young (younger than
55 years of age) sibling, cigarette smoking,
hypertension (elevated blood pressure),
kidney disease, and diabetes mellitus type
I or II, and other varied conditions.
On top of treating the condition after
diagnosis, health care providers spend
a considerable amount of time and
effort focusing on strong and proven
preventative medicine. Diagnosis and
management at the onset of the condition
and ongoing after a diagnosis have
been shown to prevent cardiovascular
disease (CVD). Over recent decades,
their ongoing treatment of patients with
hyperlipidemia has shown a direct correlation
between high lipid concentrations and the
risk of CVD, the leading cause of death in the
United States.
One landmark study determined that the
proper therapeutic interventions to lower
elevated cholesterol levels do result in
reduced risk factors for cardiovascular
morbidity or mortality for those diagnosed
with hyperlipidemia, thus furthering the idea
that one does indeed impact the other. For
those reasons, medical practitioners have
shifted their focus to prevention overall.
By Joaquin N Diego, MD, FCCP, FACC
18 HEALTHY MAGAZINE