*Cholesterol affects four in 10 UK adults , but despite this, both awareness and knowledge of cholesterol is low – even many athletic and health conscious people, like Colin Jackson, mistakenly believe they aren’t at risk.
With no visible symptoms, it’s no wonder the topic is not getting the urgent attention it deserves. Despite being renowned for his exemplary athletic career , Colin Jackson has revealed how he struggled for years with high cholesterol, having first discovered high levels of cholesterol levels at the age of 37
**High cholesterol really can affect anyone. Any time. Male or female. Young or old. Fighting fit or just fairly active. It can even be passed down through families in the genes – which can lead to undetected heart disease at a very young age.
“It was a huge shock to me when I learnt I had a cholesterol level of 6.1. I was not long out of athletics and at the time, like a lot of people, I equated having high cholesterol with being overweight. But I’ve since learnt that that’s not necessarily true at all”
He also discovered family links to high cholesterol “I was surprised to learn of a history of high cholesterol in my family – my uncle has high cholesterol and my dad passed away from heart failure, which may have been linked to high cholesterol – which was one of the reasons I decided to get checked in the first place”
According to Corinne Toyn, Healthcare Professional Relations Manager at Benecol, “Our research has shown that despite its prevalence, awareness of the dangers associated with high cholesterol is low and there’s still lots of important education work to do. Almost a third (31%) of us have never had our cholesterol levels checked which leaves a huge number of potential diagnoses going undetected.
High Cholesterol – Levels, Causes, Symptoms & Treatments
Foods That Lower Cholesterol – 10 tips
What is familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) – HEART UK
*2019 Health Survey for England data
**https://www.heartuk.org.uk/cholesterol/what-is-fh