High Cholesterol Causes
The causes of high cholesterol
What causes high cholesterol?
There are many different contributory factors that can cause an individual to have high cholesterol. These include:
- A diet that is high in saturated fat, such as fat from an animal source.
- Lack of aerobic or fat-burning exercise. Increasing the amount of aerobic exercise that you take can not only decrease your total cholesterol level, but lower your TC:HDL ratio (see home page for an explanation of this term).
- A family history of high cholesterol, known as familial hypercholesterolemia. This condition affects about 2 people in 1000 who have high cholesterol.
- Being overweight
- Age and sex - your cholesterol level often increases with age, and is often higher in men than in women.
- Alcohol consumption above recommended levels.
- Other medical conditions can adversely affect cholesterol levels, includine diabetes, disorders of the liver or kidneys and an underactive thyroid.
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