cholesterol levels

[margaretb]

As a mum of a 23 year old type 1 diabetic.. my son was diagnosed at 4 1/2 years old, and has been lucky enough to have maintained good control of his diabetes. University seems to have upset things a bit - his hba1 has gone up from 4.6 12 months ago to 5.6 today, his last eye test showed signs of slight deterioration, and today at the Dr's he has been prescribed tablets as his cholesterol is about 6.

He eats healthily, is active (farmer); there is a history of high cholesterol in my family. His reaction to the tablets is to put them in the bin!
Help!

 

[noblehead]

Your son's Hba1c is fine so don't worry there, the Ophthalmology clinic will monitor his eyes closely from here-on so he should expect to be seen every 3 to 6 month depending on what the Opthamologist thinks, his cholesterol is high at 6 but you still need to get a fasting cholesterol test done so you can get a full lipid breakdown to see what levels his good and bad cholesterol are.

With a family history of high cholesterol I can understand why his gp has prescribed statins to reduce his cholesterol, with diabetic retinopathy it is important not only to control blood glucose levels but also blood pressure and cholesterol levels too.

 

[margaretb]

Thank you for the reassurance. i don't think the GP knows of the family history of high cholesterol tbh, but it's no bad thing that it has been picked up. Now to tell 23 year old it is all for his own good!

 

[Elc1112]

Hi Magaret,

My GP has been trying to push statins on me for years, and my cholesterol isn't even high (my last reading was 3.8).

I can understand why your son is reluctant to take them. I can also understand, though, why this might worry you!

As far as I I see, your son has three option:
1) Accept his cholesterol is high and take the tablets.
2) Accept his cholesterol is high but try and lower it himself using diet etc. Give it six months and then retest.
3) Carry on as normal and risk causing further damage to his eyes.

Whatever decision he makes, it has to be his. From the sounds of it, he is against takin the tablets, so maybe suggest option 2 to him?

Good luck! Em

 

[noblehead]

Thank you for the reassurance. i don't think the GP knows of the family history of high cholesterol tbh, but it's no bad thing that it has been picked up. Now to tell 23 year old it is all for his own good!

He could ask to be referred to the diabetes consultant at his local hospital for a second opinion, here he can discuss his cholesterol levels and the implications of it being raised to his eye health/long-term cardiovascular health.