What are the symptoms of high cholesterol:

You can't feel whether you have high cholesterol levels in the same way that you can a headache, but a high level combined with other risk factors can lead to atherosclerosis and symptoms of cardiovascular disease.

Atherosclerosis is the build up of cholesterol and fat (fatty deposits or plaques) in the artery walls. The arteries become narrow and hardened, their elasticity disappears and it becomes difficult for blood to flow through.

These fatty plaques can rupture, causing blood to clot around the rupture. If blood can't then flow to a part of the body, the tissue dies.

The following are all symptoms of cardiovascular disease. They depend on the degree of narrowing, the likelihood that the plaque is going to rupture (vulnerability), and the organ supplied by the affected arteries.

• If the arteries that supply the lower limbs narrow, this can cause leg pain when walking or running (intermittent claudication). If a clot suddenly blocks the major peripheral vessel to the lower limb, it may starve the leg of blood to such an extent that it requires amputation.
• In the brain, a blood clot (thrombus) may block an artery or a smaller blood vessel may rupture, causing local haemorrhage (bleeding). Either will result in a stroke.
• In the heart, narrowed coronary arteries cause angina and ruptured plaques cause blood clots that can lead to a heart attack. This may lead to reduced heart function if a significant amount of heart muscle is damaged.

• It's common for those most affected by atherosclerosis to have the disease in several arteries, including:
• the aorta, the main artery in the chest and abdomen
• renal (kidney) arteries
• Mesenteric (intestinal) vessels.