I have a cholesterol count of 248 and a triglycerides count of 548.
The doctor diagnosed hyperlipidemea.
Please could you tell me what hyperlipidemea is?
Hyperlipidaemia is just the medical word for a high level of fat in the blood.
Generally speaking this means the same thing as high cholesterol (hypercholesterolaemia) and/or triglyceride measurements.
Hyperlipidaemia itself does not really cause symptoms, but it does put some folk at risk of developing other problems as they grow older.
The consequence of hyperlipidaemia is that with time it can predispose to the clogging-up of blood vessels, known as atherosclerosis, and this increases your risk of coronary heart disease and strokes (cardiovascular risk).
However, the latest scientific view is that the level of cholesterol alone is not the whole story.
Your risk of future heart disease also depends on many other factors that influence the health of your blood vessels and circulation.
It turns out that there is both good and bad cholesterol and it is the relative amounts of each that is important. Other medical and lifestyle influences make 'bad cholesterol' (LDL cholesterol) very much more of a problem.
Your doctor can take all these factors into account using special cumulative risk tables to estimate how much of a problem your hyperlipidaemia presents for you.
In the meantime it is a good idea to focus on a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Sometimes, despite a healthy diet and lifestyle, an individual's cholesterol level and profile continue to present unacceptably high cardiovascular risk.
In such circumstances there is now good medication that will lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels and reduce the risk of future coronary heart disease and stroke (cerebrovascular accident) ... so don't worry!
The NetDoctor Medical Team
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