High cholesterol: Do you have growths on your skin? The sign of blood vessels thinning

Dr Chris reveals how eyes can indicate high cholesterol levels

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High cholesterol doesn’t end with the development of fatty deposits. This substance can eventually grow, making it difficult for blood to flow through your arteries. This can cause the deposits to break suddenly and form a clot which can trigger dreaded medical emergencies, such as a heart attack or a stroke. Luckily, there are a myriad of lifestyle tweaks that can provide aid.

High cholesterol targets more than 40 percent of Britons, according to the NHS.

Although not all cholesterol is harmful, there’s one specific type dubbed as “bad” that can cause a series of health complications.

However, your body needs a certain amount of cholesterol to perform different tasks, including making hormones and building cells.

While many people don’t show any high cholesterol symptoms, certain signs might accompany the progress of the condition.

High cholesterol can stir up a lot of problems inside of your body but some signs might be also visible on the outside.

Dr Dana Ellis Hunnes told Eat This Not That: “Unfortunately, most people who have high cholesterol levels will not know they have high cholesterol levels without having bloodwork done.

“However, there are a couple of signs if you have high cholesterol.

“One is called: xanthomas which are soft, yellow growths on the skin.”

Xanthoma is defined as a skin condition in which certain fats pile up under the surface of your skin.

From small growths to ones bigger than three inches, xanthomas can vary in size, The Mount Sinai Health System reports.

When it comes to the location of these growths, they might pop up anywhere on your body.

But they are “most often” seen on the elbows, joints, tendons, knees, hands, feet, or buttocks.

To help you spot these growths, you are looking for yellow to orange colours of papules.

There might be a few individual ones or they may form a cluster.

Dr Hunnes explained the underlying cause of xanthomas: “Blood flow is impeded by the thick cholesterol that can pile up on the sides of blood vessels making them thinner and making blood thicker.”

If you suffer from this skin sign you should talk to your doctor, they might examine the growths and do a blood test.

Although xanthomas could point to high levels, the most reliable way of finding your cholesterol remains to get a blood test.

How to lower your cholesterol?

From lifestyle changes to medicine, there’s plenty you can do to retrieve your levels from the dangerous zone, according to the NHS.

When it comes to your diet, one way to bust your levels is to cut down on fatty food that contains saturated fat. While some types of fibre could help to flush out the fatty substance.

Quitting smoking and cutting down alcohol could also provide an aid.

However, some people might have to take medicine called statins to keep their levels at bay and avoid further problems.

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