Hyperlipidemia and Vein Surgery DC

Sometimes, medical terms can be difficult to understand and even confusing.  Hyperlipidemia is one such term.  To make things simpler, it is the medical term that refers to having elevated cholesterol levels.  Pretty much everyone has heard of high cholesterol.  Most primary care doctors test their patients for high cholesterol regularly because it can be detected with a simple blood screening.  To make the issue of high cholesterol even more confusing, patients with consistently elevated numbers may be referred to a Vein surgery DC practice for maintenance of the condition.  High cholesterol is not, however, a condition that will require an actual vascular surgery DC procedure.

Hyperlipidemia and the Interventional Cardiologist

So, hyperlipidemia is a complicated name for disorders that result in elevated levels of fats, cholesterol and triglycerides circulating in the blood stream.  In and of itself, this condition does not pose a real threat to the patient.  But, in the long term, the lipids can enter the arterial walls and cause structural changes to the arteries, leading to possible strokes, heart attacks and amputations.  People who have co-existing diagnoses such as diabetes and those who smoke are at a greater risk for complications from hyperlipidemia.

The interventional cardiologist DC can help the patient with consistently elevated lipid profiles in a few different ways.

• Lifestyle changes are the first line of treatment for elevated lipid levels.  Patients may be asked to lose a certain amount of weight, follow a low-fat diet, and increase the amount of cardiovascular exercise they are doing each week.  Sometimes this is enough to reduce elevated numbers.
• Statins are a class of medication that are often very effective in reducing lipid levels when lifestyle changes alone are not completely effective.  Because so much of a patient's lipid profile depends on genetics, it is not unusual for medication to be a necessary part of treatment.
• One of the risks of taking Statins is that they can induce diabetes.  Individuals with elevated lipid panels who already have diabetes, or who develop it as a result of Statin usage, will benefit from meeting with and endocrinologist and dietitian.