Guidelines for Healthy Lifestyle Habits and Seasonal Care for Patients with Hyperlipidemia

Developing good lifestyle habits is essential: A scientific lifestyle is crucial for the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia. Experts believe that individuals with hyperlipidemia should cultivate the following good lifestyle habits:

(1) Strengthen physical exercise. Engage in one hour of exercise daily, aiming for 60% of your maximum oxygen consumption. Keep your heart rate below 170 beats per minute, or until you feel slightly sweaty, not fatigued, and relaxed after exercise. Maintain this routine for at least five days per week.

(2) Long-term smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can interfere with lipid metabolism, causing cholesterol and triglycerides to rise and high-density lipoprotein to fall. Therefore, patients with hyperlipidemia should quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption.

(3) Emotional excitement, insomnia, overwork, irregular lifestyle, anxiety, and depression can all disrupt lipid metabolism. Therefore, avoid mental stress. (4) Avoid using drugs that interfere with lipid metabolism, such as beta-blockers, propranolol, diuretics, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, reserpine, contraceptives, and corticosteroids, all of which can increase cholesterol and triglycerides and decrease high-density lipoprotein.

(5) Actively treat diseases affecting lipid metabolism, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, nephrotic syndrome, alcoholism, pancreatitis, and lupus erythematosus, all of which can interfere with lipid metabolism.

(6) Middle-aged people over 45 years of age, obese individuals, those with a family history of hyperlipidemia, those who frequently attend social gatherings involving food and drink, and those engaged in highly stressful work are all high-risk individuals and should have their blood lipids checked regularly (at least once a year).

(7) Anyone who has not responded to dietary adjustments, increased exercise, and lifestyle improvements for 3 to 6 months, or who already has coronary heart disease, or who has high blood lipids even without coronary heart disease, requires drug treatment. Generally, those with primary, familial, or genetic deficiencies require lifelong medication; discontinuation of medication often leads to relapse and rebound.

Pay attention to seasonal changes: Domestic and international studies have confirmed that blood lipids, like vitamin D, are related to seasonal changes. Blood lipid levels vary in different seasons.

Blood lipid levels in humans and animals differ significantly across seasons. Serum cholesterol levels are highest in autumn and lowest in summer; however, serum triglyceride levels are highest in spring and lowest in autumn. A study conducted by Beijing Fuwai Hospital over a year, measuring the blood lipids of 52 healthy employees who did not take any medication, quarterly, found that serum cholesterol levels were highest in autumn and lowest in summer, with levels in spring and winter falling between autumn and summer. However, serum triglyceride levels were highest in spring and lowest in autumn, with levels in summer and winter falling between spring and autumn. Therefore, in autumn, it is advisable to reduce the intake of high-cholesterol foods such as egg yolks and animal organs, while appropriately increasing the intake of animal and vegetable oils to prevent an increase in plasma cholesterol and a decrease in triglycerides, ensuring adequate calorie intake during winter. In summer, it is advisable to appropriately increase the intake of egg yolks and animal meat to ensure the body's required cholesterol supply. Serum triglyceride levels tend to be higher in spring, so it's important to reduce the intake of animal fats and control total energy intake.