Perhaps you’ve heard of high blood pressure and high cholesterol being called, “The Silent Killers.” That is because in most cases these conditions have no early warning signs.
Well, almost no early warning signs.
In some instances where high cholesterol runs in a family, individual family members’ cholesterol levels can build up so astronomically high that they may produce some visible warning signs.
There is a medical condition called xanthoma in which cholesterol can infiltrate skin and tendons, particularly in hands and feet, producing painful yellowish knots.
Another similar condition called xanthelasmas is when cholesterol starts building up in bumpy yellow lesions around the corners of the eyes.
Occasionally when a person’s cholesterol gets high enough it can cause a white ring, called a corneal arcus, to appear around the colored part of the eyeball itself.
These indicators of high cholesterol typically indicate a familial genetic trait that leads to unbelievably high cholesterol levels, and they are probably most likely to be noticed by an eye doctor or a skin doctor.
High blood pressure, on the other hand, really doesn’t have any warning signs. Some people say that they can tell when their blood pressure gets out of whack because they experience headache or flushing, but I don’t think there’s ever been a real connection proven between those signs and blood pressure.
So, if our cholesterol problems and blood pressure problems more often come from too many cheeseburgers instead of some rare family genetic trait, how can we tell if we have these silent killers under control?
The only way to know if your blood pressure and cholesterol are OK is to check them regularly. With blood pressure that is as easy as getting an automatic blood pressure cuff at any pharmacy, but with cholesterol you’re going to have to get your doctor to do a blood test every so often.
You should ask your doctor what your targets are for your blood pressure and your cholesterol, but in very broad strokes, you probably want your resting blood pressure under about 140/90, your Total cholesterol under about 200, your “bad” LDL cholesterol below about 100,and your “good” HDL cholesterol above about 35.
If you discover that your blood pressure and cholesterol are getting away from you, what can you do to help it? The three main leverage points for keeping blood pressure and cholesterol under control include sensible balanced diet, moderate regular exercise, and consistency in taking your medicines like your doctor tells you to.
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Dr. Patrick Parker is the Director of the Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation program at the Cardiovascular Institute of Mississippi in McComb. Visit RoamingParkers.com to see more of what he does to stay fit, well and healthy.
