What could happen? Wrong about eating an extremely high-fat diet of beef, cheese, and sticks of butter? For one thing, your cholesterol levels could reach such stratospheric levels, causing lipids to leak from your blood vessels and form yellowish nodules on your skin.
That was the disturbing case of a man in Florida who showed up at a Tampa hospital with a three-week history of painless, yellow outbreaks on his palms, feet and elbows. His case was published today in Jama Cardiology.
The man, who was in his 40s, told doctors he had adopted a “carnivore diet” eight months earlier. His diet included between 6 and 9 pounds of cheese, sticks of butter, and daily hamburgers that had extra fat built into them. Since refining this food plan for Brewing, he claimed his weight dropped, his energy levels increased and his “mental clarity” improved.
Meanwhile, his total cholesterol level was 1,000 mg/dL. For context, an optimal total cholesterol level is Less than 200 mg/dlwhile 240 mg/dl is considered the threshold for “high”. Cardiologists found that his cholesterol level before his high-fat diet was between 210 mg/dL to 300 mg/dL.
The cardiologists diagnosed the man with xanthelasma, a condition in which excess blood lipids leak from blood vessels and form localized lipid deposits. The escaped lipids would normally be taken up by roaming white blood cells called macrophages. In cases with xanthelasma, the amount of lipids is too much for the macrophages, which turn into foam cells with the excess cholesterol, leading to visible deposits.
Such deposits are commonly seen around the eye (a condition called xanthelasma palpebrarum), which often strikes people with lipid abnormalities such as familial hypercholesterolemia. It is believed that the continuous blinking of the eye throughout a person’s life can eventually weaken the capillaries in the area and allow lipid seepage. Although this may be a more common presentation of the condition, lipid deposits can occur anywhere in the body.
Xanthelasma – especially Xanthelasma palpebrarum – is not always associated with high cholesterol and heart risks, but high total cholesterol is strongly associated with coronary heart disease.
The case study contains no information about the man’s prospects. However, the authors write that the case “highlights the impact of dietary patterns on lipid levels and the importance of treating hypercholesterolemia to prevent complications.”
This story originally appeared on ARS Technica.
