Can thin people also have high blood lipids? In addition to controlling your diet, you also need to pay attention to these

Author: Hou Jiayi, Deputy Chief Technician, Shanxi Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Reviewer: Li Ning, deputy chief physician, Shanxi Provincial People's Hospital

Blood lipids are a general term for lipids contained in plasma. Since elevated levels of plasma cholesterol and triglycerides are associated with the occurrence of atherosclerosis, these two indicators are key items for blood lipid testing. During a physical examination, 40-year-old Ms. Li found that her blood lipid test report had an additional small upward "arrow", in which triglycerides showed a slight increase. Ms. Li was very surprised. She usually pays attention to a light diet, refuses to eat big fish and meat, and does not look fat. How could her triglycerides be high? Contrary to the traditional perception that "high blood lipids are exclusive to obese people", some "thin people" have elevated triglycerides and high cholesterol. In fact, the source of blood lipids is not only the food we eat, but also partly from the body's metabolic synthesis. In order to control blood lipids, in addition to paying attention to a light diet, you must also pay attention to the following risk factors.

Figure 1 Report of four blood lipid tests

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1. Lack of exercise

Insufficient exercise has become a major risk factor for elevated blood lipids in modern people. Sitting for long periods of time or lying inactive for long periods of time are not conducive to clearing lipids from plasma. Research results show that although the weight of some "thin people" is within the standard range, or even slightly underweight, their body fat percentage is high, which is a kind of "invisible obesity." Like Ms. Li, who sits for long periods of time at work and has no habit of regular exercise, fat accumulates in the lower abdomen. Even if the weight is normal, the blood lipid test indicators will increase.

Increasing the amount of exercise can help lower blood lipids and prevent hyperlipidemia. Exercise can improve the body's metabolism and consume a lot of body fat. For patients with slightly elevated blood lipid test indicators, especially those with high triglycerides, the effect is more obvious after intensive exercise. Exercise can also have a certain effect on patients with slightly elevated total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. But please note that this premise is that the patient's blood lipid test indicators are only slightly elevated and strict diet control is also being implemented. If the patient's blood lipid test indicators are seriously elevated, then simply increasing exercise will not restore blood lipids to normal.

2. Age Factor

Teenagers generally have low blood lipid levels due to their vigorous growth and metabolism, while middle-aged and elderly people have a lower overall metabolism as they age, and the liver's clearance rate of plasma lipids is greatly reduced, making them more susceptible to hyperlipidemia. This may be the reason why some "thin people" have abnormal blood lipid test results after entering middle age.

3. Other metabolic-related diseases

Abnormal blood lipid metabolism may also be caused by other diseases, such as hyperthyroidism, rheumatism, diabetes, hypertension, nephrotic syndrome, gout, etc., which may cause abnormal blood lipid metabolism, that is, secondary hyperlipidemia. Many people in this group are thin. Therefore, when patients have abnormal blood lipid metabolism, they need to go to the hospital for examination to find out whether there are any diseases related to metabolism, and then follow the doctor's advice for symptomatic treatment.

Figure 2 Patients with hyperlipidemia will have chylosing blood

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4. Genetic factors

It has been found that a considerable number of patients with dyslipidemia have one or more genetic defects. This kind of hereditary hyperlipidemia often clusters in families and has a clear genetic tendency. It is clinically known as familial dyslipidemia. If a direct relative suffers from this disease, you must pay attention to early prevention.

In short, if you find that your blood lipids are elevated, you can actively adjust your diet and exercise (usually for 3 months) to reduce your body fat percentage. For patients with severe hyperlipidemia, intervention in lifestyle alone cannot reverse the condition, so lipid-lowering drugs are needed for treatment.