| Do you know… |
| * |
you know…
* The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by the 2010 Cardiovascular Diseases CVD is estimated to the leading cause of death in developing countries. |
| * |
WHO also indicate CVD causes one third of all death globally and heart disease has no geographic, gender or socio-economic boundaries. |
| * |
105 million people in the USA have cholesterol levels that are a CVD risk (WHO). |
| * |
As economic transition bring about lifestyle changes. People now eat more animal products such as meat, poultry and eggs which contain high level of low-density lipoprotein. High level of LDL cholesterol and other abnormal lipids are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. |
|
| |
| What is blood lipid? |
| The lipids contained in serum are collectively defined as blood lipids, including cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipid and free fatty acids. Cholesterol can be classified as 3 classes to indicate individual conditions: total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Blood lipids bind to specific proteins to form lipoproteins dissolving and circulating in the blood. |
|
Hyperlipidaemia
|
| In 2001 NCEP (USA) defined subcategories of hypercholesteremia and hypertriglyceridemia as listed below: |
| |
Ideal |
Borderline |
Dangerous |
| Total cholesterol |
＜ 200m g/dl |
200~239mg/dl |
≧ 240mg/dl |
| LDL-C |
＜ 130m g/dl(ideal value: ＜ 100 m g/dl, sub-ideal value: 100 -129 m g/dl) |
130~159mg/dl |
≧ 160mg/dl (high: 160-189 mg/dl, extremely high ≧ 190 mg/dl) |
| Triglyceride |
＜ 150 m g/dl |
150~199 mg/dl |
200 ~499 mg/dl ( extremely high: ≧ 500 mg/dl, which usually leads to acute pancreatitis) |
|
| When the total cholesterol, triglyceride or LDL-C level is too high, or HDL-C level is too low in the blood, individuals will experience pathologies medically defined as hyperlipidaemia, which can lead to atherosclerosis and causes insufficient blood flow in tissues and subsequent anoxaemia-associated organ failures such as stroke and myocardial infarction. |
| |
|
The cause of Hyperlipidaemia
|
| * |
Diet: cholesterol in the blood is mostly produced by the liver but also could be obtained from high-cholesterol food such as internal organs and yolks. Caution should be taken for such intakes. |
| * |
Obesity: Overweight often causes hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C. |
| * |
Lack of exercise |
| * |
Smoking: smoking damages blood vessels linings and causes cholesterol accumulation. |
| * |
enetics: genetics may impact on the capacity to produce and metabolize cholesterol |
| * |
Drugs: the use of diuretic, female hormones, birth control pills, steroid and β interferon, etc. |
|
| Damages caused by Hyperlipidaemia |
| * |
Studies show that higher cholesterol will cause higher risks in coronary heart disease, due to the accumulation of LDL-C along the blood vessel lining which lead to clogs and subsequent life-threatening arterial scleroses, strokes or even myocardial infarction. |
| * |
Researches also showed that when blood cholesterol level exceeds 200mg/dl the heart disease incident rate increases accordingly. Lowering blood cholesterol level by 1 mg/dl can reduce the risk by 2~3%. |
| * |
Hyperlipidaemia is commonly accompanied by fatty liver, which has 1/3 prevalent rate among Taiwanese adults. Hyperlipidaemia prevalence recently has moved toward younger populations and causes more young fatty liver patients. It is projected that the young generation will have much higher fatty liver prevalence if their diets do not change. The major cause of fatty liver is obesity and high-calorie intake, which result in the accumulation of triglyceride in the liver. |
| * |
Hyperlipidaemia can also result in gallstones. Healthy livers secrete bile into the gall, where the bile is concentrated and stored. Fat is digested by bile secreted from the gall upon the food enters the body. High blood cholesterol increases the cholesterol level in bile and therefore promotes cholesterol crystallization and forms gallstones. |
| * |
High triglyceride level may also lead to pancreatitis. Clinical researches showed that patients with high triglyceride level are at high risk of acute pancreatitis after over-eating, drinking or taking birth control pills. |
|
| |
| |
|
| Treatments of Hyperlipidaemia |
| The objective of the treatments is to reduce the blood lipid and resume to the normal level in order to decrease the risk of arterial sclerosis and other cardiovascular diseases. In general, patients with hyperlipidaemia will be treated by diet treatment for 3~6 months. Only when the diet treatment fails, drug therapy will then be considered |
| |
| Documents reported hyperlipidaemia could be alleviated by intake of lactic acid bacteria |
| * |
Mann and Spoerry reported in 1974 that the indigenous Masai people in Africa benefited from acidophilus milk that their blood cholesterol level dropped after the intake. |
| * |
Anderson and Gilliland at University of Kentucky found that, in clinical experiments, Lactobacillus acidophilus could reduce blood cholesterol level in human body and hence lower the risk of coronary heart disease. |
| * |
Probiotics can reduce total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increase HDL-C concentration in the blood. (Effects of Lactobacillus casei synbiotic on serum lipoprotein,intestinal microflora,and organic acids in rats.J Dairy Sci.2006；89(5)：1390-9.) |
| * |
Long-term consumption of fermented dairy products with probiotics will increase the concentration of HDL cholesterol and enhance the LDL/HDL ratio. (Long-term consumption of fermented dairy products over 6 months increases HDL cholesterol.Eur J Clin Nutr.2002；56(9)：843-9.) |
|
| |
| |
