Top 11 Questions About High Cholesterol, Answered

3. What Causes High Cholesterol if I Eat Healthy? Can It Be Genetic?

If you eat a healthy diet and get regular exercise but still have high cholesterol, your DNA may be a bigger factor than your lifestyle. About 1 in 250 people in the United States live with familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), a life-threatening inherited disorder that causes high cholesterol.

Unfortunately, 90 percent of people who have it don’t know it, according to the Family Heart Foundation, a national nonprofit organization based in Fernandina Beach, Florida. Screening for high cholesterol is the only way to identify people who have FH. Because of this, all children should have a cholesterol screening once between ages 9 and 11, recommends the American Academy of Pediatrics.

If your LDL is above 100, it’s already considered high. If it’s higher than 190, you may have FH, according to leading heart groups, such as the American Heart Association (AHA), the American College of Cardiology, and the National Lipid Association. If a parent has FH, their child has a chance of having it, too. Finding out if you have FH — and getting treated if you do — is vital, because having FH means your risk of heart disease is 20 times higher than that of people who don’t have inherited high cholesterol.

4. How Can I Lower My Cholesterol Naturally?

For many people, revamping everyday habits can go a long way toward lowering cholesterol without medication. “There are a number of lifestyle changes that can be made, and they fall under the categories of diet and exercise,” says Dr. Khandwalla.

Eating heart-healthy foods is a great place to start. This means eating less red meat and full-fat dairy products, both of which contain saturated fats that raise cholesterol. Instead, focus on eating lean proteins — chicken, turkey, seafood — and adding more soluble fiber to your diet from fruits, vegetables, and oatmeal, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Getting aerobic exercise most days of the week can also help lower cholesterol.

5. Can High Cholesterol Make Me Tired?

High cholesterol doesn’t usually cause fatigue, but it can lead to heart diseases, such as coronary artery disease, that do. With this heart condition, excess LDL builds up as plaque in your heart’s small arteries, causing them to narrow and stiffen. This reduces blood flow, which can make you feel tired or short of breath and cause chest pain, notes the NHLBI.

If you’re taking a statin to treat high cholesterol, possible side effects could come with fatigue, such as memory loss, forgetfulness, and confusion, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, these are very rare. Mayo Clinic describes this as mental fuzziness. Be sure to discuss any similar symptoms with your doctor.

6. Can High Cholesterol Cause a Stroke?

If you have high cholesterol, you’re at risk of stroke due to the excess cholesterol circulating in your blood, according to the AHA.

LDL builds up in your arteries, where it slows or blocks the flow of oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to your body, including your brain. As arteries narrow and stiffen, blood clots may form a blockage, which can cause a stroke if it travels to the brain.

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and one of the main causes of disability, according to the American Stroke Association. But it can be mostly preventable; keeping your cholesterol levels down is one way to cut your risk.

7. Will High Cholesterol Make Me Feel Bad?

For most people, high cholesterol has no symptoms at all, according to the AHA. But when it causes plaque buildup in larger arteries in your heart, coronary artery disease can result, which can involve angina (tightness in the chest), chest pain, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), and shortness of breath that can leave you low on energy, notes the NHLBI.

Coronary artery disease is the most common heart disease, but many people have no idea they have it until they suffer a heart attack, according to the CDC. For them, a heart attack is the first sign that they had been living with high cholesterol.

The AHA advises having your cholesterol checked every four to six years — or more frequently if you’re at risk — starting at age 20. If your numbers are too high, you can take steps to lower your risk for both heart disease and stroke. Besides following a healthy diet and getting regular exercise, take medications as instructed if your doctor prescribes them.

8. Can High Cholesterol Cause Erectile Dysfunction?

High cholesterol alone is not thought to cause erectile dysfunction (ED), but plaque-clogged arteries can, because blood flow is essential to an erection, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Too much cholesterol may also affect the body’s ability to produce the hormone testosterone, as well as nitric oxide, which helps relax the penile tissue. Both of these factors can lead to ED as well.

The good news is that in older men with both high cholesterol and ED, taking statins — medications used to treat high cholesterol — is associated with a significant improvement in ED, according to research.

9. Does Stress Cause High Cholesterol?

While stress is not a primary cause of high cholesterol, it may still have an effect on cholesterol levels. One study found that in people who experienced stress due to work or personal conflict, higher stress was a risk factor for high cholesterol. And when you are feeling stressed and pressed for time, you may be less likely to follow heart-healthy lifestyle measures, such as eating a nutritious diet and getting exercise. The study noted above found that regular physical exercise had a strong protective effect against cholesterol.