You can not feel if you have high cholesterol levels in the same way that you feel a headache, but a high cholesterol level in combination with other risk factors can lead to atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease symptoms.
Atherosclerosis is the buildup of cholesterol and fat (fatty deposits or plaques) in arterial walls, leading to the arteries to narrow and harden, losing its elasticity and therefore the movement is difficult.
These fatty plaques can rupture, causing blood to clot around the rupture, and if this happens the blood can not flow to part of the body, triggering the death of tissue.
The following are the symptoms of cardiovascular disease and depend on the degree of arterial narrowing:
- If the arteries of the lower limbs have a limited supply, this can cause leg pain when walking or running and if a clot blocks the vessel, the lack of blood flow can come to the point of requiring amputation.
- In the brain, a blood clot (thrombus) may block an artery or a smaller blood vessel coming to rupture, causing local haemorrhage (bleeding). Either will lead to a stroke.
- In the heart, narrowed coronary arteries cause angina and plaque rupture, causing blood clots that can lead to heart attack or heart function through damage reduced a significant amount of heart muscle.
- If the carotid arteries in the neck become narrow, clots may form passing floats in the brain, resulting in a stroke or repeated ‘mini-strokes “(transient ischemic attacks or TIAs).
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