High cholesterol is what the average person calls it. The medical term is hypercholesterolemia and it is a risk factor for heart disease.

No signs or symptoms are usually visible until the problem becomes significant. Occasionally, yellowish patches appear around the eyelids or in the outer margin of the iris of the eye. Lumps may form in the tendons of the body, especially in the Achilles tendon.

But most of the time, the fatty waxy yellowish substance lodges inside the walls of the blood vessels, where you cannot see it. That’s why you must have your blood levels checked on a regular basis, even if you feel healthy. It could be a family issue you are unaware of.

One of the rare causes of hypercholesterolemia is genetics. It is then referred to as familial hypercholesterolemia. There are actually two genetic mutations, one being much rarer than the other. The rarest form can cause severe cardiovascular disease during childhood. People with the more common, but still rare form tend to develop cardiovascular disease between the ages of 30 and 40.

If members of your family have died from heart attacks at relatively young ages, the reason could be familial high cholesterol. It is in your best interest to get a blood test.

Watch Your Diet

Excessive dietary intake of saturated and trans-fatty acids is the most common cause of hypercholesterolemia in the Western world. Dietary cholesterol was at one time blamed, but most research indicates that cholesterol-rich foods like eggs can be consumed in moderation. For example, eating three eggs per week is okay.

Some people have switched to a vegetarian or vegan diet. Usually the result are quite remarkable. Meat, especially red meat, is a source of saturated fat that can cause high cholesterol.

Get Moving and Keep Going

Another common cause is lack of physical activity. Physical activity is one of the only things that raise HDL levels. HDL is considered “good” cholesterol, because it carries the yellow goo out of the bloodstream. LDL particles are the ones that “stick around” in the blood.

You Have Heard the Warnings Repeatedly

Smoking and alcohol consumption in excess of one or two drinks per day are other causes of high cholesterol. Both smoking and alcohol can cause the liver to produce more LDL particles.

Anyone who is obese should have their HDL and LDL blood levels checked regularly. Obesity raises triglyceride levels. Triglycerides are fats in the bloodstream. Triglycerides include free fatty acids and the cholesterol particles we have been talking about. When a person has high cholesterol, their total blood triglycerides are also higher than normal.

Age a Factor -?

Getting older is a possible cause, although not necessarily inevitable. Dietary changes and improved nutritional status can combat high cholesterol regardless of a person’s age.

A number of other health problems can cause hypercholesterolemia including:

* Hypothyroidism
* Pancreatitis
* Type II diabetes
* Nephrosis
* Cirrhosis and other liver diseases

Certain prescription medications can also cause the health problem including progesterone, corticosteroids, anabolic steroids and diuretics. No drug is without risk and many of them have a negative effect on liver function. Anything that messes with the liver can cause hypercholesterolemia, as well as other health problems.

A heart attack is a leading cause of death all over the world. The other name of attack is myocardial infarction. It occurs when the oxygen rich blood flow is blocked to some parts of the heart muscles. If the blood flow is not restored quickly, it can cause death. Discomfort in the chest, shortness of breath, vomiting, restlessness, nausea, coughing, dizziness and crushing chest pain are some of the symptom of attack. If you experience any of these symptoms or see any other person experiencing them, you need to seek the emergency services immediately.

6 Things That Lead To Heart Attacks

Age

The most important risk factor of attacks is age. Men aged above 45 years and women aged above 55 years are more susceptible to the risk of attack. Arteries supply oxygen rich blood to other parts of the body. As you age, they become firm and less flexible. This in turn causes elevate blood pressure. As your heart needs to adjust to the increase in blood pressure, it becomes vulnerable to damages.

Diet and Lifestyle

Diet plays a crucial role in increasing the risk of heart attacks. If you take animal fats and saturated fats in large quality, your risk of having attack is more. High fat, sugary, salt laden foods are enemies to your heart. Unhealthy lifestyle can also lead to attack. A study shows that people who do not exercise are more likely to get a heart attack than people who exercise regularly. Smoking is another important risk factor that causes heart attacks.

Genes

If your parents or grandparents had heart diseases, your risk of getting a attack is high. Heart disease is normally inherited from genes.

Obesity and Overweight

Nowadays, many people suffer from the problem of overweight and obesity. A study shows that 15% of children and adolescents in the U.S. are overweight. Overweight children become overweight adults and they have an increased risk of dying from heart attack or some other heart disease.

Blood Cholesterol Levels

If your blood cholesterol level is high, you are at the risk of developing blood clots in the arteries. These blood clots can block blood flow to the heart muscle, causing attack. High cholesterol increases the risk of developing atherosclerosis, a condition caused by hardening of the arteries, which damages arteries and other tissues in the heart. It increases the risk of stroke and attacks.

Diabetes

Diabetes is one of the main risk factors of attacks. High blood glucose increases the risk of attack. 65% of people with diabetes die from heart diseases.

If you realize that you have the risk of having a heart attack, you need to take some steps immediately. Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, eating foods low in saturated fats, cholesterol and sugar, quitting smoking, getting at least 30 minutes of physical activity daily and taking medications to keep diabetes under control can help prevent attack.

Palpitations are a change in the beating rhythm of the heart. Palpitations are just one of the ways that a biological, physical or mental stress can manifest itself throughout the body. It is more common in people who lead stressful or highly active lifestyles. However, they can be experienced- and usually are at some point in an individual’s lifetime – by anyone of any age. Considering the heart beats in the average lifetime around three billion times, the odds are that one may experience a few palpitations at some point.

Most of the time there is nothing to be worried about, however, when they first occur you should consult your Doctor as they may signal an underlying condition. Apart from the obvious (excess caffeine, alcohol, stimulants, pain or stress), these underlying conditions may include anything from a menopausal condition to Toxic Goitre (thyroid problems).

There are two major types of arrhythmias: tachycardia (the heartbeat is too fast) and bradycardia (the heartbeat is too slow). Arrhythmias are identified by where they occur in the heart (atria or ventricles) and by what happens to the heart’s rhythm when they occur. However, unfortunately (or fortunately) for most, the doctor will not be able to pinpoint your exact cause. This is where alternative solutions need to come into play before more serious methods.

The word “alternative” has gotten a bad rap over the years. When it comes to palpitations, most alternative solutions are just commonsensical approaches. I recommend to others that you need to combat palpitations threefold by re-evaluating your lifestyle choices (smoking, sleep, stress, etc.), your supplementation choices (magnesium, calcium, etc.) and your dietary choices (what foods to eat and how you consume them). Let’s briefly examine the latter and why it is critical for you to rethink how you stock your refrigerator.

Chances are you have heard some variation of the following scenario. A family, who after following a plant-based diet, was able to turn three little ADHD brats into extremely well-behaved angels. Stories like these, where food is the cure, are endless. Food clearly plays a leading role in your health and it is no exaggeration to think your palpitations can cease from choosing the correct culinary choices.

These food choices influence your body in two main ways. Firstly, the nutrients that food provides either help or hinder your overall health. Secondly, foods that the body disagrees with will realise a form of toxic matter, causing the brain to release a toxic by-product around your body to fight this.

For others, they experience palpitations directly after eating. This is in part due to more blood being pumped to your stomach to aid digestion. There are a list of possibilities as to why this occurs, however, it all comes down to improper eating. A few basic reasons are as follows:

(1) Oversized portions. Gigantic meal sizes mean more pressure on your body and more work for the heart to pump blood to the stomach.

(2) Not varying your electrolytes. If your foods choices are predominately high in potassium or sodium, then the chances are you need variety in your food.

(3) Hormonal imbalances. It is best if you consult your doctor for a proper analysis if you think this could be the case. This is often so for women who are pregnant.

(4) Improper eating. The odds are you know how to eat healthy, but also know you could be making major changes in this department. Of course, too much caffeine, sugar, alcohol, chocolate and yeast products may very well be at the root of your problem.

Never underestimate the power of food. Many cultures have long held their own remedies for calming the heart and preventing palpitations. Thanks to modern science we can now explore their nutritional properties and validate the rationale behind the “why”.

Every individual’s body chemistry differs and what causes palpitations in one person may not be the same trigger in the other. Having said that though, we are all built the same and need the same basic inputs.

There is a good chance that by revamping your life, you may very well never have a palp again. Sit down and have an objective look at your life and try some changes for a few weeks to see if you notice any difference.

Are you somebody who easily gets irritated over uncomplicated situations? Who uncontrollably shouts to someone upon undoing what you asked him to do? If a text message or phone call distresses you, do you throw things near you across the house? Do you excessively react in a negatively manner whenever a person tells you something against your belief? If so, you better be thinking hard about it because some studies acclaim that short-tempered behavior may be associated with heart disease.

Dr. Laura Kubzansky, an associate professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at Harvard School of Public Health is currently studying about how emotions like anxiety, anger, or depression are differentially linked to the development of Coronary Heart Disease. She believes that, positive emotions can make an individual healthier stated at a forum discussion last August 2, 2011 titled “Positive Feelings Are Good for Your Heart: Emotion and (Mal) Adaptive Processes over the Life Course”. Researchers wonder if there is somehow certainty that positive behaviors will make people avoid smoking, drink, push themselves to do regular exercise, improve their sleeping habits, and produce higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL), factors which are supposed to help induce heart disease.

Anger is not only the main cause, according to Kubzansky, many researchers disagree that it really plays a role in the development of heart disease. Her study proposes that people who are angry a lot also persuade to more likely chronic negative emotions such as anxiety and depression.

She also stated that many studies suggested significant relation making the case quite strong. Moreover, a study from Canada was conducted and researchers examined nine of the top risk for heart disease, namely smoking, obesity, and lack of exercise. They have found that anguish concerning work place or relationships was related with heart attack. And also, at the University of Pittsburgh, a study suggested that people who are pessimistic have a higher risk in acquiring atherosclerosis.

Scientists cogitate that anger has a direct biological effects in the heart. These are the following:

1. Anger contributes to activate the hypothalamic -pituitary -adrenal axis, which is responsible for our body’s reaction to stress and many body processes such moods and emotions, digestion, the immune system, sexuality, energy storage and expenditure, and many kinds of mental disorders.

2. It triggers the sympathetic nervous system, fight or flight response. This is the primary stage of an animal or people to general adaptation syndrome that regulates stress among them. With which, when stimulated, helps us in time of emergency however is damaging when it persist time and again. High cortisol and high adrenaline levels happens.

3. Increased stress hormones affects the neurohumoral regulation of metabolic processes hence may lead to fatty plaque build up or atherosclerosis.

4. Whenever an individual gets mad, the heart pumps harder, blood vessels tighten, blood pressure heightens, and there are higher glucose and fat globules in the blood that cause damage to artery walls.