Have you ever observed the elderly around you? Have you noticed a white ring around the black eyes of some old people?
1. The elderly have a white ring on the outside of their black eyes, what is the matter?
In fact, as we get older, the black eyes are not as translucent as when we were young, and a white ring will appear around the black eye, and this white ring is called the old ring.
The senile ring is actually manifested by the deposition of lipids in the stromal layer of the surrounding cornea.
Generally speaking, about 60% of people over 50-60 years old will have this condition, and 100% of people over 80 years old will have this condition.
It is a degenerative lesion, which is a manifestation of old age, and often does not require special treatment.
However, if we find that young people under the age of 40 have the symptoms of senile rings, it is likely to be related to hyperlipidemia, and it is recommended to go to the hospital for relevant blood tests to determine the specific cause.
2. Is hyperlipidemia caused by eating?
The main components of blood lipids are cholesterol and triglycerides, so as these two components rise, hyperlipidemia, medically known as hyperlipidemia, will manifest itself in three different types:
(1) Hypertriglyceridemia, mainly elevated triglycerides;
(2) Hypercholesterolemia, mainly elevated cholesterol;
(3) Mixed hyperlipidemia, with elevated triglycerides and cholesterol.
Among them, only 1/3 of cholesterol is exogenous, that is, it is ingested through daily diet, and the remaining 2/3 is endogenous, which is reabsorbed through the enterohepatic circulation, and then synthesized in the liver.
In other words, in fact, most blood lipids are synthesized within the human body and are relatively less affected by exogenous diet. So this is the reason why many friends who don't like meat will also have high blood lipids.
Therefore, for friends with high blood lipids, in addition to adjusting their diet, they should also combine exercise to control blood lipids, such as aerobic exercises such as jogging, swimming, brisk walking, and climbing, as well as resistance exercises such as lifting dumbbells and elastic band squats.
3. What are the drugs that regulate blood lipids?
In general, cholesterol synthase inhibitors are the first choice in clinical practice, that is, statins such as atorvastatin, retovastatin, and fluvastatin. Cholesterol is lowered by inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol, which usually requires long-term consumption to maintain the effect.
Of course, these medications can only help regulate blood lipid levels.
Hyperlipidemia is divided into primary hyperlipidemia caused by genetic factors and environmental factors, and secondary hyperlipidemia caused by diabetes, hypothyroidism, liver disease, etc.
If hyperlipidemia is secondary to diabetes and other diseases, it is necessary to actively treat the underlying disease while taking lipid-lowering drugs.
4. What are the three points to pay special attention to when taking statins?
(1) Early:
If there is dyslipidemia or atherosclerotic plaque, the sooner it is taken, the better, and the benefit of early drug intervention can be 3 times that of late drug intervention.
(2) Appropriate amount:
Be sure to lower your blood lipids to less than half and raise the ratio of HDL to apolipoprotein A.
(3) Long-term:
It takes about 30-40 years for blood lipids to form atherosclerosis or plaque on the inner wall of the arteries, which is a very large time span.
The smoother and more neat the vascular intima is, and there is no inflammation, ulcer and other lesions, the blood lipids are not easy to be deposited in the vascular intima .
Therefore, the smoothness and softness of the intima of the blood vessels are very important, and taking the medicine irregularly will damage the intima of the blood vessels.
Moreover, the plaque formed has the risk of causing disease at any time, the time of action of the drug is limited, and the blood lipids will increase again after stopping the drug, so it is necessary to take statins for a long time and regularly, and you can't forget the next meal.
5. Can I drink alcohol while taking statins?
In addition to the adjustment of daily diet, patients with hyperlipidemia should also pay attention to the effect of diet on statins.
For example, smoking and drinking alcohol will have an impact on the efficacy of statins, especially drinking, alcohol will inhibit the hypolipidemic effect of statins and increase drug toxicity, so patients taking statins should quit smoking and drinking.
In addition, patients with hyperlipidemia know that they should eat more vegetables and fruits, but there is one exception, grapefruit.
Grapefruit juice is metabolized by the CYP3A4 enzyme in the liver, and many statins are also metabolized by the CYP3A4 enzyme, so they compete with each other.
Grapefruit juice affects statin metabolism, and statin metabolism will accumulate in the body, increasing the toxicity of the drug.
So while taking statins, you should avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice.
Resources:
Medical Microvision Official Website - Lu Yan, Chief Physician "Ophthalmic Symptoms - Eye Characteristics"
Medical Microvision Official Website - Liu Wenxian, Chief Physician "Health Management of Hyperlipidemia (Hyperlipidemia)"
Medical Microvision Official Website - Zhang Shige, Chief Pharmacist, "Safe Use of Statins"
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