High cholesterol puts you at risk of developing heart disease and having a heart attack or stroke. Ochuele Odumosu, MD, and Oluwaseun Odumosu, MD, at Vine Family Medicine in Keller, Texas, take a patient-centered approach to care and know that high cholesterol develops without causing symptoms. They run lab work and provide lifestyle counseling to find and improve high cholesterol and overall health. To learn more about high cholesterol and your treatment options, call the office or schedule an appointment online today. Telehealth appointments are available.
Cholesterol is a waxy fat made in your liver. Your body uses cholesterol to make cell membranes, vitamin D, and certain hormones.
Your liver makes all the cholesterol it needs to perform these functions.
High cholesterol means your blood levels of cholesterol are too high.
You can develop high cholesterol if you eat too many foods high in saturated fat (butter, marbled meat) or trans fat (fried foods, baked goods). Some people have an inherited disorder — familial hypercholesterolemia — that causes high cholesterol.
There are three types of cholesterol:
HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol, helping remove cholesterol from your blood and out of your body. LDL and VLDL cholesterol are bad cholesterol. When you have too much LDL and VLDL in your blood, it combines with other substances, creating plaque, which sticks to the walls of the blood vessels.
Over time, plaque builds up, narrowing or blocking the passage of blood.
You can have high cholesterol and not know it. Getting your cholesterol numbers checked during an annual physical is important for overall health, and high cholesterol affects people of all ages.
The team at Vine Family Medicine determines when you should get tested for high cholesterol based on your personal and family history.
In general, children should get their cholesterol screening between ages 9 and 11 and then again between 17 and 21. After age 21, adults should have their cholesterol checked every five years.
The team may check more frequently if you have risk factors for high cholesterol, like family history.
The team at Vine Family Medicine focuses on lifestyle changes when treating high cholesterol. They customize plans to match needs and encourage:
The team tries to limit the use of prescription medication to treat high cholesterol. But if lifestyle factors fail to improve numbers, the team may try a cholesterol-lowering medication.
For patient-centered care that focuses on health and wellness, call Vine Family Medicine or schedule an appointment online today.