There are more than 200 thousand a year in Italy, deaths from cardiovascular diseases. Of these, about 50 thousand are attributable to the lack of cholesterol control. More than half of the European population has cholesterol levels that are too high and out of over a million people at potential high risk, more than 8 out of 10 have cholesterol values higher than those indicated by the European guidelines. There are several factors that can determine high cholesterol levels, including an unhealthy diet (characterized by large amounts of saturated fat), the presence of diabetes mellitus, a sedentary lifestyle and a family history of high cholesterol values. On some of these factors, we can intervene in a simple way.
To detect promptly hypercholesterolemia it is sufficient to undergo periodic blood tests, thus identifying the levels of total cholesterol, “bad” and “good” cholesterol and thus assessing the person’s brain and cardiovascular risks.
“April is the month that A.L.I.Ce. Italia Odv, the Association for the Fight against Cerebral Stroke, dedicates every year to the prevention of this pathology which, in our country, affects about 150,000 people every year – declares Nicoletta Reale, President of ALICe. Italy Odv. This year we decided to turn the spotlight on hypercholesterolemia which, together with smoking, hypertension and obesity, constitutes one of the main stroke risk factors that can be modified by implementing a change in one’s lifestyle: a healthy and correct diet, for example. for example, it is able to reduce blood cholesterol between 5 and 10%, thus also reducing the risk of incurring diseases such as stroke and heart attack ”.
The cholesterol it is a fatty substance that circulates in the blood, is mainly produced by the liver, and only minimally introduced with food; in normal quantities, it performs a fundamental task for some biological processes (for example it is a constituent of cell membranes and participates in the production of vitamin D), but, if the standard values are exceeded, it becomes a risk factor for stroke and heart attack. First of all, it is necessary to distinguish between “good” cholesterol and “bad” cholesterol, names commonly given respectively to HDL lipoproteins (High Density Lipoproteins) and LDL lipoproteins (Low Density Lipoproteins): in healthy individuals, the total cholesterol value is considered corrected if less than 200 mg / dl. The levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol, must not be lower than 40 mg / dl; the optimal value of LDL, the “bad” cholesterol, is instead between 100 and 130 mg / dl.
“The” bad “cholesterol in excess – says Dr. Massimo Del Sette, Director of SC Neurology at EO Galliera Hospital in Genoa – is deposited on the walls of the arteries and progressively generates thickening inside the vessel, called atherosclerotic plaques. Atherosclerosis is a chronic and completely asymptomatic vascular disease: over the years, therefore, the cholesterol that accumulates in the vessels in the form of “plaques” causes a reduction in the caliber of the vessel itself (“stenosis”), which can even close complete with the vase. Atherosclerotic plaques can also be the site of local thrombus formation, which could later migrate, resulting in the occlusion of more peripheral arteries with respect to the site of the plaque itself. This accumulation of cholesterol in the blood vessels is a slow process that can last for many years, silent, but can cause acute diseases such as stroke, heart attack and thrombosis, with consequent very serious results such as disability and death “.
Today, doctors have several therapeutic options available that are effective in keeping cholesterol under control, but ALICe’s goal. Italia is to raise awareness of two fundamental elements that constitute a very powerful weapon in the hands of each of us: prevention, which involves a change in one’s lifestyle (do not smoke, do constant physical activity, do not abuse alcohol, follow a healthy and balanced diet) and early diagnosis (having blood tests once a year to check cholesterol values can avoid the sudden onset of serious diseases such as strokes and heart attacks).