Cardiovascular Surgery Specialist Op. Dr. İhsan Alur warned about high blood lipid levels (hyperlipidemia), which can cause vascular inflammation.
Giving information about health problems that may occur when blood lipid levels rise, Op. Dr. İhsan Alur said: “Atherosclerosis, also known as arterial fat deposition or calcification, is a chronic inflammatory disease involving complex interactions between immune system cells secreting inflammatory substances and endothelial cells lining the inner surface of blood vessels. High blood lipid levels (hyperlipidemia) exacerbate and trigger this chronic inflammation. Regardless of the cause, when excess fat is present in the blood, the liver tries to reduce and neutralize it. However, if the amount of fat in the blood exceeds the liver’s capacity, these fats begin to oxidize and transform into harmful substances.” Speaking about the factors leading to hyperlipidemia, Dr. İhsan Alur said: “Factors causing hyperlipidemia include diabetes, metabolic syndrome, familial high cholesterol, smoking and alcohol consumption, chronic kidney disease, liver failure, thyroid disease, unhealthy diet, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.”
Pointing out that patients with lipid disorders face a dramatically increased risk of early atherosclerotic heart and vascular disease, Dr. İhsan Alur added: “Recent studies have shown a definite connection between hypercholesterolemia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and vascular inflammation. These diseases are also linked to endothelial dysfunction/inflammation, which involves leukocyte infiltration (immune cell accumulation) into the artery wall, one of the earliest stages of atherogenesis (arterial fat deposition), and represents a pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic state. It has also been shown that high blood lipid levels (hyperlipidemia) cause endothelial dysfunction and inflammation, and that this condition can be reversed with lipid-lowering therapy.”