Silent yet deadly, high cholesterol is often reluctant to show many warning signs while laying the groundwork for serious health problems like heart disease. However, some symptoms can crop up once the fatty substance accumulates in your arteries. One tell-tale sign of this process can strike at night.
Leaving high levels of cholesterol to their own devices is a recipe for plaque accumulation in your arteries.
Apart from cholesterol, plaques are a cocktail of fatty substances, cellular waste products, calcium and fibrin.
Once your arteries contain too much of this unpleasant mixture, they become thick and stiff, reducing your blood flow.
Dr Adam Staten, Clinical Director at One Day Tests and NHS GP, said: “This means the muscles and other tissues beyond the narrowing don’t get a good enough blood supply.”
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The doctor explained that these processes lay the groundwork for a condition known as peripheral artery disease, or PAD for short.
“It’s the same process that leads to heart attacks and strokes but in PAD it is the arteries in the legs that are affected, and less commonly the arms,” Dr Staten added.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the “first symptom” triggered by PAD could be pain, cramping or discomfort in your legs.
Dr Staten shared that this type of pain can even strike at night, disturbing your sleep.
He said: “Night pain can be a sign that PAD is quite severe.
“In the early stages of PAD, the pain usually only occurs during activity, [resembling] cramping pain in the calf when walking.
“Later on, the arteries can become so narrow that even at rest the muscles aren’t getting enough blood to function properly and that causes pain.
“There is a mechanical element to the problem at night too because blood flow to the legs isn’t being assisted by gravity when you are lying flat – some people find that hanging their legs over the side of the bed or standing up relieves the pain because gravity pulls more blood down into the leg.”
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Once you get high cholesterol confirmed, there’s plenty you can do to keep your levels in check, ranging from a healthy diet to cholesterol-busting medicine called statins.
A cholesterol-lowering diet cuts back on saturated fats – think cheese, butter, sausages and biscuits. Furthermore, upping your intake of soluble fibre could also help lower your levels.
Other helpful lifestyle tweaks include cutting back on alcohol, quitting smoking and exercising.
Dr Staten said: “In treating PAD, the most important step you can take is to stop smoking, but your GP is also likely to advise you to take a blood thinning medication called clopidogrel, which is similar to aspirin.
“You are also likely to need to see a vascular surgeon as there are a number of ways to surgically open up the blood supply to your legs.”
