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High cholesterol: Pain in three areas of the body signals high levels - do not 'dismiss'

High cholesterol means you have too much cholesterol in your blood. Cholesterol is a waxy substance produced inside the liver that helps to build healthy cells. Levels must be kept in check, however. High cholesterol is associated with serious complications, such as peripheral artery disease (PAD), which is signalled by pain in three areas of the body.

PAD is a common circulatory problem whereby narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to your limbs.

As the Mayo Clinic explains, PAD is often caused by atherosclerosis.

In atherosclerosis, fatty deposits such as cholesterol build up on your artery walls and reduce blood flow.

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), cramping pain in the hips, thighs or calves when walking, climbing stairs or exercising, can signal PAD.

 Getty Images Muscle cramping in hips, thighs or calves is a sign 

The AHA continues: "The pain of PAD often goes away when you stop exercising, although this may take a few minutes. Working muscles need more blood flow. Resting muscles can get by with less."

Other symptoms of PAD include:

• Foot or toe wounds that won't heal or heal very slowly
• Gangrene, or dead tissue
• A marked decrease in the temperature of your lower leg or foot compared to the other leg or the rest of your body
• Poor nail growth on the toes or hair growth on the legs
• Erectile dysfunction, especially in men with diabetes.

As AHA explains, "many people dismiss leg pain as a normal sign of aging".

The health body continues: "You may think it's arthritis, sciatica or just 'stiffness' from getting older. For an accurate diagnosis, consider the source of your pain. PAD leg pain occurs in the muscles, not the joints."

How to ward off cholesterol complications

There are a number of important steps you must take to lower high cholesterol.

First and foremost, you must get tested. Since high cholesterol is mostly symptomless, you can only find out if you have it from a blood test.

"Your GP might suggest having a test if they think your cholesterol level could be high," explains the NHS.

"This may be because of your age, weight or another condition you have (like high blood pressure or diabetes)."

Getty Images A blood test reveals whether you have high cholesterol

The NHS says to ask your GP surgery for a cholesterol test if you have not had a test before and you're over 40, overweight, or high cholesterol or heart problems run in your family.

"You're more likely to have high cholesterol."

How to lower high levels

There are several foods which are not just part of a healthy diet, they can actively help to lower your cholesterol too.

"You should try to eat some of these every day as part of your healthy diet," advises cholesterol charity Heart UK.

Getty Images Essential tips to lower high levels

Cutting down on saturated fat and replacing some of it with unsaturated fats is a great way to lower your cholesterol, says Heart UK.

Unsaturated fats include:

• Vegetable oils such as olive, sunflower, corn, rapeseed, nut and seed oils
• Avocado, nuts and seeds
• Fat spreads made from vegetable oils, such as sunflower and olive oil
• Oily fish.

"Oily fish are a good source of healthy unsaturated fats, specifically a type called omega-3 fats," adds Heart UK.

The charity advises aiming to eat two portions of fish per week, at least one of which should be oily. 

Reference: Daily Express: Adam Chapman

Man with 10 different personalities now unable to leave house by himself

A man with a rare condition that caused his personality to split into 10 identities is now unable to study, work or leave the house on his own.

Leonard Stöckl says he is made up of 10 personalities, Kovu, 4, Hektor, 8, Ana, 16, Cosmo, 17, Ash, 18, Jessy, 19, Leo, 21, Billy, 23, Liv, 24, and Red, 26.

Leonard, who lives in Munich, Germany, has Dissociate Identity Disorder (DID), a rare psychiatric condition that develops in early childhood as a result of severe trauma.

The 22-year-old refers to his collective personalities as his ‘system’, the group of identities who share one body and each distinct form of consciousness is the 'person' or ‘alter’.

Leo refers to himself as the ‘host’ of the system, meaning they are the person who has control over the body most often.

Leo was able to manage day-to-day activities up until his teenage years but the condition became overwhelming when he was taking A-Level exams in June 2021.

Whilst everyone else seemed to have no problems studying, he was unable to focus and suffered from memory loss and other symptoms due to the personalities switching.

After seven years of therapy, he began looking for a psychosomatic clinic where he would get help to be more stable and was diagnosed with DID.

© Provided by Indy 100 (SWNS)

Leo was admitted to a clinic in March 2022 for six weeks, where he had several therapies ranging from typical therapy sessions with a psychiatrist to physical methods such as QiGong, archery and art therapy.

He was diagnosed just two days before he was discharged on 26th April 2022.

Leo explained that whilst he felt relieved at his diagnosis and could finally give his problems a proper name, he knew there was a long road of work ahead.

His time at the clinic was not as helpful as he hoped but gave him a great daily routine and a safe, supportive environment to learn to live with his trauma.

Due to the severe symptoms, Leo is now unable to work as each alter has their own abilities and wishes which makes it impossible to ensure he will be able to do his job.

Since he is unable to have a job, Leo now runs a shop on Etsy where he sells handmade bookmarks and tote bags.

Leo's system also has a complex impact on his relationship "as more people are involved and everyone has their very strong and own opinion on things".

However, Leo also noted that the system is a "great source of support" for when things get hard in the relationship.

He added: "When it gets hard, we always find a way around and in the end, we are just as a normal couple as anyone else.

"There are just some more people involved sometimes."

Leo has been with his partner Massimo since October 2020.

He said: “We live with Massimo and he is the main person looking after us.

"Each alter has their own relationship with my boyfriend.

“One of the alters HATED him at first - he’s now trying to be pleasant but it doesn’t always work.

“We have a very young alter that has met him, but it can be difficult for my boyfriend when there is a younger person fronting whilst we are together.

Leo emphasised that whilst every DID system is different, they all share severe traumatic experiences in early childhood which formed and developed the system.

He explained: “I'm Leo and I'm the current host of the system.

“I love cooking, reading and watching movies and series with my partner, who I live with.

“Kovu is our youngest and we don't know much about him, because he is very quiet - we suspect that he is very traumatised.

“Hektor is a very excited kid - he loves stuffed animals and always gets excited about going to the zoo or visiting an aquarium.

“Ana suffers from anorexia which makes it hard for her to front.

“Cosmo is a rowdy, slightly flirty teenager that easily gets in trouble.

“Ash is a little sunshine who loves to go on vacation and just explore the world.

“Jessy is quiet but very kind, girly and respectful. She often takes care of the body.

“Billy is one of our protectors - he always takes care of safety while we're outside. He doesn’t talk a lot and can be verbally aggressive sometimes, but he would NEVER harm anyone.

“Liv is our sexual protector. She knows when someone gets too close to us and she can handle every situation.

“Red is the oldest and the systems' mum. She takes care of a lot of things - showers, chores, cleaning, paperwork and managing all of our money."

The help options for people with DID include support groups on the internet and mental health assistance centres.

However, information about the condition is so limited that it can be hard to find help.

Leo explained that people often don’t share their experiences because of shame, difficulty to meet others with DID and even fears of past abusers reaching out to them.

He said: “You can meet people online, but you still need to be careful who to trust.

“There are some groups on Reddit and Facebook where you can exchange experiences, ask questions and get help with your problems.

“We also have some trauma centres here in Germany, but not everyone there is educated about DID.”

Leo's condition means that he can't leave the house on his own and believes service dogs would be of great help to people with DID.

He said: “We always need someone when we leave the house, since there can be so many triggers which cause flashbacks and even non-epileptic seizures caused by a dissociative conversion disorder.

“Service dogs can be very helpful for those with DID and they can also relieve relatives who take care of you.

“They cost about 30,000€, which is extremely expensive for someone who may not even be able to work because of their conditions.

“A service dog would also be a big help, but we also need a lot of therapy which is very difficult to arrange.

“It’s really hard to find a therapist that can work with DID and often those who can either don’t have any capacity left or will put you on a waitlist of several months or even years.”

Leo started posting videos online about his condition in May 2022 to hopefully educate people around the world.

He described feeling "very insecure" when he began sharing his story as he was so freshly diagnosed.

In one of the videos, Leo was able to catch a switch - meaning the moment another personality fronted.

The reactions online were really positive which motivated Leo to continue creating informational content about DID.

In recent years, several films and series portraying characters with DID have been released but Leo believes that they are not an accurate representation of people with DID.

“DID is not portrayed correctly in movies and series - we don't have superpowers and we are not dangerous.

“The only films that include DID are fantasy and thriller films, which is how Hollywood steals our respect in society.

“We need authentic movies and documentaries, we don't need film productions to make millions of dollars at our expense and risk.

“DID is more than just having multiple personalities living in one body.

"Even though I no longer go to concerts and I'm more careful when going outside, having DID also gives us a chance of constantly learning more.

"Every one of us has our own wishes and interests and we can share them with each other.

"I would never choose to live without the other alters.

"They are my family, my best friends, my team - I wouldn't even be able to live without them."

SWNS reporting by Jessica Hehir-Smith. 

Reference: Indy 100:  Greg Evans

Living with topical steroid withdrawal and eczema: ‘Like acid burning through your skin’

After Remi Tsunashima, 24, came across a video of a young woman going through topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), in an attempt to end her dependency on the treatment, she decided that her lifestyle of suppressing eczema symptoms with steroid creams also had to come to an end.

sunashima has suffered with the skin condition since she was three years old, and for 20 years has been prescribed steroids to help reduce the inflammation on her skin. Between 2001 and 2021, she had not gone a full week without applying topical corticosteroids (TCS) or adding bleach to her bathwater – which can kill bacteria on the skin and reduce redness and scaling (the NHS advises half a cup -150ml – per full bath).

The creams she used worked well, but she knew that there were drawbacks to long-term TCS use. “Adverse effects can result from daily use of high-strength TCS over a long period, typically longer than 12 months,” explains Dr Tanya Bleiker, president of the British Association of Dermatologists. “Side-effects can include thinning of the skin, rosacea and acne on the face and trunk”.

However, stopping the treatment after using it long-term is not always easy. After watching the social media video, which attracted large amounts of attention, Tsunashima, who works as a schoolteacher, stopped using her steroid creams and began experiencing mild symptoms of TSW including rashes on her back, arms and neck. “I felt so miserable. I wasn’t mentally ready for it,” she says.

She gave in to the creams once again to calm the symptoms and spoke with a nutritionist who helped her optimise her diet and taper off the creams earlier this year by slowly lowering her doses and using weaker creams. In March, she was completely off them but soon found she had severe withdrawal symptoms.

“It was super uncomfortable and I could barely sleep at night because anything that came into contact with my skin burnt – even clothes,” she tells i. “I didn’t like seeing myself in the mirror so I would keep the lights turned off when I went to the bathroom.”

Tsunashima found the no-moisture treatment (NMT), a controversial method of re-educating the skin to function normally again by rationing the amount of water put into the body, helped diminish the constant itching and burning sensations. “At the start of NMT my face was so dry that I could barely open my mouth,” she says. “To eat I had to cut everything very small to fit it in my mouth.”

Although she feels the NMT eventually helped, her skin still has a lot of healing to do, and she finds herself using a damp cloth and diluted apple cider vinegar to wipe her body instead of facing the pain of a shower.

Two months into being steroid cream-free, the 24-year-old is starting to accept her process of healing, and the help of the online TSW community has been invaluable. “I used to be so ashamed of my skin and blame it for not being clear,” she says. “I started feeling confident enough to take pictures and post more often on social media and I gained many followers.”

This online circle of support also helped Ruth Holroyd, 49, feel less alone when she was over three years into her journey of coming off topical steroids. She had tried to taper off steroids for nearly four years prior, but each time she would back out after five days when her symptoms would flare up. “In the end I just had to let go,” she says.

Holroyd, from Buckinghamshire, was forced to quit her job after coming off steroids and didn’t work for six months. “It’s so painful you want to hide,” she says of her TSW. “You don’t want to see anyone and you don’t want anyone to see you. My friends were really shocked when they saw what I looked like.”

Living alone through Covid, having already become an “expert at isolating”, made Holroyd lonely. But she feels ambivalent about dating, she tells i: “Some people are put off by the skin. I didn’t want anyone in my bed because it’s filled with skin. You don’t feel attractive and you don’t feel sexual.”

Many TSW sufferers hoover or sweep the skin from their beds each morning. “I used to brush it off the edge and have a pile of skin on the floor by the side of the bed,” says Holroyd. “When you get up to walk somewhere it comes showering off you.”

She used to collect her skin as a sort-of science experiment, but it became too much and she ended up running out of jars. Holroyd has become fascinated by how her body is working, even writing her own book filled with the poems she’d write to her skin as therapy.

Holroyd also found relief from yin yoga and running, despite feeling like a “walking wound” and having her eyebrows disappear and hair recede after withdrawal.

“Learning to sit in discomfort and accept the pain rather than being raging, angry, upset and crying really helped me,” she says.

Running was another distraction although some weeks Holroyd was unable to join her regular running group as flare-ups “could feel like acid when it’s burning on your skin.”

“Sweat can feel like it’s breaking its way out,” she says, and she has only recently found that parts of her body are able to sweat easily again. Her neck is particularly painful, but cold showers can often help with the burning sensations, although Holroyd believes she suffers from PTSD from the pain of showering.

“Experts say that your skin rejuvenates in 30 days so why can’t we heal in 30 days?” she asks. She believes the damage is more than just skin-deep. “It’s going right inside you and burns out. I have a lot of nerve pain and swelling.”

Now, her skin is near its best since stopping topical steroids, although she is unsure if it’ll ever be completely healed. But she feels the journey has been worth it. She recalls her happiness at getting a “chin zit” as it meant oil was once again coming to the surface of her face.

TSW is still not well understood, and for doctors it can be difficult to distinguish from other types of flare-up. But Bleiker says: “A relapse or worsening of the underlying eczema can happen after the steroid is withdrawn.”

For those who don’t want to use TCS, Bleiker recommends emollients to help repair the natural skin barrier, cool baths and bandages to aid flares, and phototherapy or topical calcineurin inhibitor medicines.

“Some people try to manage their eczema without [topical steroids],” she says. “Ideally, this should be done in consultation with your doctor to manage the process as carefully as possible.”

Before changing any treatment, it is crucial that people with eczema speak to their doctor or dermatologist to ensure it is the right course of action for them. 

Former County Durham paramedic's wife suffered heart attack and died waiting almost an hour for an ambulance

A former paramedic told of his despair after his wife suffered a heart attack - and died waiting almost an hour for an ambulance.

Nigel Mitchell, 63, who has raised tens of thousands of pounds for defibrillators in his rural community, claims he had been warned a 999 crew might take 90 minutes to reach Gill, his wife of 43 years. She had suffered a cardiac arrest while they were on their morning dog walk.

Nigel, who served the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) for 32 years, said he told their 999 call handler that a helicopter would be needed. He claimed she told him that they 'did not send one for anybody' despite his vast experience for NEAS.

Nigel wept as he recalled how his wife had died en route to hospital after he, his son Ross, 40, and a passer by tried to save her near their home in Middleton-in-Teesdale, County Durham.

He is still waiting for a final report on his wife's cause of death. But he questions the initial finding that she died of ischemic heart disease, with high blood pressure and high cholesterol contributory factors, as she had undergone a series of health checks before her death.

© Chronicle Live Nigel and Gill were married for 43 years

"She had been for a walk with the dogs, got home and collapsed, she was sweating, cold, clammy," recalled Nigel.

"I told the call handler that I was a retired paramedic, she had all the symptoms of a heart attack and that we would need a helicopter because of where we were. The retort came back 'we don't send a helicopter for anybody you know' which was a bit of an insult. My wife said 'have I collapsed?'

"The operator said 'I have heard your wife, the ambulance will be an hour and a half'. I knew we could not wait that long. So we took her in the car to one of our defibrillators in Middleton-in-Teesdale. We got her out and did mouth to mouth, I was helped by a complete stranger, a tourist from either Belgium or Germany who did CPR.

"I shocked my wife five or six times with the defibrillator. Then 45 minutes after we got to Middleton, the ambulances came, one, two, three, four and a helicopter. They did the best for her. If they had come sooner, I am not saying they would have saved her, but at least we would have known. They flew her to James Cook Hospital, but she was dead on arrival."

He added: "I believe there was an ambulance much nearer to us but they are blaming high demand. I am waiting to see what excuses they come up with in their official response."

© Chronicle Live Gill passed away in October last year

Nigel, his family and friends raised more than £20,000 for defibrillators, then another £43,000 which paid for CPR education in their local community following the death of his brother Stephen, 52, from a heart attack in 2010.

Nigel added: "People in rural areas are being left to God and Good Providence. They don't call 999 unless they absolutely have to.

"You would have thought after all the years working for them, someone from NEAS would have given me a call to speak to me about Gill's death. They keep saying they will learn lessons but I am not sure if that is the case. I had a long career there, and it just seems to be getting worse and worse. Many former colleagues want to leave.

"I was fighting for rural ambulance cover all of my career. I am hoping by raising this someone else might not go through what we have gone through."

Nigel is the guardian of the seven defibrillators in his area. He retired in 2013 and was team leader at the Barnard Castle ambulance station.

© Handout Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison

Bishop Auckland MP Dehenna Davison raised his wife's death in Parliament after claims from a whistle-blower of 90 NEAS cases where paramedics 'covered up' medical failings in official reports. She said: "It is shameful the wait for an ambulance was so long, and even more shameful that multiple ambulances then arrived on the scene, potentially preventing others from receiving the urgent care they needed. My thoughts go out to Mr Mitchell and his family. He should be commended on his tireless campaigning for change at NEAS to help save lives."

Nigel, who has three children, eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren, has submitted a formal complaint to NEAS following his wife's death in October.

Their medical director, Dr Mathew Beattie (c), said: "On behalf of the organisation, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Mr Mitchell and his family for their loss and would like to apologise for the distress caused by our response. Unfortunately, we're unable to discuss any patient care publicly. However, we can confirm that on that day the service was under significant pressure.

"We have now been contacted by Mr Mitchell to formally raise his concerns. We will now undertake an investigation and provide him with a detailed response." 

Reference: Chronicle Live: Jeremy Armstrong & Kristy Dawson