The heart is an amazing organ – a tireless pump which speeds up or slows down depending on our body’s needs and when it stops, we stop.
Attached to this wondrous organ is a network of veins, arteries and capillaries which if laid out end-to-end would stretch around the world more than twice.
This network of blood vessels is perfectly designed to transport oxygen and nutrients to our body’s tissues, but it is also transports cholesterol and this can bring problems.
Cholesterol is often viewed as a major threat to our circulatory health, but it is essential to our existence and is required to produce some of our most important structures such as cell membranes, hormones and digestive acids.
All our cells can make their own cholesterol and our liver acts as a bank containing around 20 per cent of our total supply.
The liver ships cholesterol out to cells that need it and recovers it back from our circulation network.
Because cholesterol is a kind of fat, it is not water soluble so we transport it within lipoproteins which are part lipid – fat – inside and part protein outside. The protein is essentially the cargo vessel that allows cholesterol to travel in our bloodstream.
Some of these lipoproteins are termed low density (LDL) and some high density (HDL) which relates to the ratio of fat to protein; high density lipoproteins carry more protein in relation to fat so are more dense.
HDLs are often termed “good cholesterol” and LDL’s “bad cholesterol” but this is an oversimplification with the main risk factor lying in the kind of outer coating that wraps around these molecules.
We once believed cholesterol consumed in our diet was the primary risk factor for the leading cause of death worldwide, that being heart disease. However, the vast majority of cholesterol consumed in our diet is excreted and has little impact on our total cholesterol.
The problem arises when we consume too much saturated fat. High levels of saturated fat can increase the number of lipoproteins in our blood which are encased in a damaging outer coating allowing them to move through the lining of the arterial wall and then get stuck.
This initiates a cascade of immune responses which eventually cause a build-up of plaque and calcifications within our arterial wall and increases the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.
This build-up of plaque is known as atherosclerosis. Risk factors also include smoking and high blood pressure which damage the lining of the artery walls either chemically or mechanically.
Atherosclerosis is a condition that sneaks up on us over time. We often think of the eventual outcome as a sudden event such as a heart attack, but the risk had likely been developing for many years.
There is also a misconception that heart attack and stroke only happen to elderly individuals, but half of all adverse cardiovascular events occur before the age of 65 and in men a quarter of all events happen before the age of 54.
Some teenagers with poor diets may exhibit early stages of cardiovascular disease, but few ever know as the young are rarely screened for this condition.
And herein lies the problem, as in many cases we only realise how much damage has been done when we start to experience uncomfortable symptoms and this is usually in the second half of our lifespan.
It is never too early to start caring about how much saturated fat we are consuming and perhaps make a change to more beneficial fats found in foods, such as extra virgin olive oil, oily fish and nuts.
Combined with regular physically activity, we can significantly reduce the risk of developing heart disease and avoid the need for certain medications.
If you could benefit from more guidance on how to improve your circulatory health, self-refer to our Thrive programme by visiting www.lornhealthyoptions.co.uk
Rob Graham, lead exercise professional, Healthy Options.