High blood lipids, early screening, look at the picture to teach you how to read the blood lipid report

1.What are the dangers of high blood lipids?

Hyperlipidemia not only induces endothelial damage, causing endothelial degeneration, necrosis and shedding, leading to endothelial dysfunction, but also indirectly affects the elasticity of arteries by affecting the functional regulation of the endothelium. Increased blood lipids are the raw materials for the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, and finally atherosclerosis causes cardiovascular diseases, resulting in adverse consequences. Faced with the current incidence of hyperlipidemia, active prevention is imminent.

2. How to detect dyslipidemia?

When we come to the hospital, we most often test the two blood lipids, namely cholesterol and triglycerides. Elevated triglycerides are called hypertriglyceridemia, and elevated cholesterol is called hypercholesterolemia. We all call it high blood lipids. The eight blood lipids test adds low-density lipoprotein, small low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, apolipoprotein A, B and lipoprotein (a) to cholesterol and triglycerides.

3. Suppose we imagine the eight blood lipid items as a blood lipid family, which of them are good cholesterol and which are bad cholesterol?

4.

Cholesterol is the big brother among blood lipids. If it continues to rise in the blood without treatment and intervention, it will lead to coronary heart disease, arteriosclerosis, and easily form plaques in human arteries, causing blood vessels to narrow and induce cerebral infarction, so we must pay close attention to its increase.

Although elevated triglycerides will not lead to vascular plaques, they will indirectly increase the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. If they are elevated at the same time as cholesterol, you will need to control your diet and take medication to lower your blood lipids.

High-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein: High-density lipoprotein is probably the only good cholesterol in the blood lipid family. It is a unique lipoprotein and a protective factor for coronary heart disease. It is okay if this indicator is a little higher. As for low-density lipoprotein, cardiovascular doctors need to test it together with other blood lipid indicators for comparison because it is the bad cholesterol in the blood. If cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein rise together, it is easy to cause thickening of the arterial skin or formation of plaques, or even rupture and bleed, eventually inducing vascular obstruction events.

Apolipoprotein A and B: We imagine them as a pair of twin brothers, Little A and Little B, who together carry proteins in lipoprotein in the blood. In the middle and late stages of hyperlipidemia, their increase will competitively inhibit the activity of plasmin and form blood clots. Patients with a family history of genetic diseases or diabetes need to monitor this indicator.

Small, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol: Although it is the smallest among lipoproteins, it is the worse cholesterol in the blood vessels and is also the culprit of heart disease.

Finally, there is lipoprotein (a): it is a spherical lipoprotein that can carry a large amount of cholesterol and bind to the blood vessel wall, promoting arteriosclerosis and thrombosis. When lipoprotein a and low-density lipoprotein are elevated at the same time, the probability of coronary heart disease will be 3 times higher than that of ordinary people, and the risk factor of stroke will increase by 4.6 times. The American Heart Association has included lipoprotein a as a risk factor in the primary prevention assessment model for the 10-year cardiovascular risk critical and moderate risk population.

Summarize

Paying attention to blood lipid health should be prevention-oriented. Testing blood lipid levels is one of the important means of screening for hyperlipidemia. If you have already suffered from hyperlipidemia, in addition to taking medication according to doctor's advice, you should maintain a scientific and reasonable diet structure, try to choose low-fat foods, eat less high-sugar and high-fat foods, and adults should do moderate aerobic exercise every week to improve lipid metabolism.

Some of the pictures are from Weibo, and the blood lipid pictures are provided by the author. Author: Chen Yiling, Liu Qin Unit: Huadong Sanatorium

References

(1) Chen Mingjie, Characteristics and treatment progress of dyslipidemia in metabolic syndrome, Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases, 2011, 32(1):104-105

(2) Zhao Shuiping, Key points and interpretation of the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of dyslipidemia in Chinese adults, Journal of Practical Clinical Medicine, 1672-6170 (2008) 03-0003-04

(3) Chinese Guidelines for Blood Lipid Management (2023)

(4) Chinese Expert Consensus on Blood Lipid Management in Community Adults (2024)