What could happen? What is wrong with eating an extremely rich diet in fat based on beef, cheese and butter bars? Well, on the one hand, your cholesterol levels could reach such stratospheric levels that lipids begin to ooz your blood vessels, forming yellowish nodules in your skin.
That was the disturbing case of a man in Florida who presented himself at a Hospital in Tampa with a three -week history of yellow and painless eruptions in the palms of the hands, the soles of the feet and the elbows. His case was published today in Jama Cardiology..
The man, in about forty years, told doctors that he had adopted a “carnivorous diet” eight months before. Their diet included between 6 and 9 pounds of cheese, butter bars and daily hamburgers to which additional fat had been incorporated. Since he adopted this surprising feeding plan, he said that his weight fell, his energy levels increased and his “mental clarity” improved.
Meanwhile, its total cholesterol level exceeded 1,000 mg/dl. By context, an optimal level of total cholesterol is Less than 200 mg/dlwhile 240 mg/dl is considered the threshold for “high.” The cardiologists noticed that before following their diet rich in fat, their cholesterol had been between 210 mg/dl and 300 mg/dl.
Cardiologists diagnosed man with xantelasma, a disease in which the excess of blood lipids oozes from the blood vessels and form deposits of localized lipids. Lipids who escape would normally be absorbed by wandering white blood cells called macrophages. But in cases of xantelasma, the amount of lipids is too large for macrophages, which become foamy cells with excess cholesterol, which causes visible deposits.
These deposits are often observed around the eye (a condition called Xantelasma Palpebrarum), which often affects people with lipid anomalies, such as family hypercholesterolemia. It is believed that continuous flickering during a person’s life can eventually weaken the capillaries in the area, allowing lipid filtration. But, although this can be a more common presentation of the condition, lipid deposits can occur anywhere in the body.
The Xantelasma, especially the Xantelasma Palpebrarum, is Not always associated with high cholesterol and heart risks, but having high total cholesterol is strongly associated with coronary heart disease.
The case study does not provide information on the perspective of man. However, the authors write that the case “highlights the impact of dietary patterns on lipid levels and the importance of controlling hypercholesterolemia to prevent complications.”
This story originally appeared in Ars Technique.
(Tagstotranslate) Ars Technica