Cholesterol advice please

[Prem51]

So I got my blood test printout yesterday, and need some advice about the cholesterol levels before I see GP to discuss.
I haven't bothered too much about my cholesterol as I was more concerned with my bs levels which are now at non-diabetic figure of 39.
At my blood test 12 months ago my cholesterol was 4.7. HDL 1.2 and LDL 2.1. I don't know what the triglycerides were.

My printout shows the following figures:
Serum triglcycerides 0.7 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol 6.1 mmol/L
Serum HDL cholesterol level 1.6 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol level/HDL ratio 3.8
Serum LDL cholesterol level 4.2 mmol/L

Now I know that at 6.1 my total cholesterol has gone up since last year and is more than the 4 or less the NHS wants diabetics to have. The nurse did say my good HDL figure of 1.6 did counterbalance the overall high figure of 6.1.
I stopped taking statins in June, but I didn't experience any bad side effects from them. I know they have beneficial effect of strengthening the heart, so I don't have any objection to going back on them.

I have seen that others have experienced an initial rise in cholesterol levels with LCHF followed by a lowering in time.
Should my levels be coming down after 12 months? I know we are all different, but how long did it take you to see a reduction, or did yours stay high?
I would appreciate your views on this.
I will be seeing my GP within the next 3 weeks to discuss this.

 

[GeoffersTaylor]

My mix of HDL and trigs were much improved within the first couple of months on LCHF and have remained stable

My overall level of cholesterol is staying high - lower than it was but still higher than it should be. Although, what I didn't know is that my cholesterol has always been high, even when I was much younger. It was never mentioned back in my early twenties but it was there and GP reasons there's a genetic element to it.

 

[psignathus]

So I got my blood test printout yesterday, and need some advice about the cholesterol levels before I see GP to discuss.
I haven't bothered too much about my cholesterol as I was more concerned with my bs levels which are now at non-diabetic figure of 39.
At my blood test 12 months ago my cholesterol was 4.7. HDL 1.2 and LDL 2.1. I don't know what the triglycerides were.

My printout shows the following figures:
Serum triglcycerides 0.7 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol 6.1 mmol/L
Serum HDL cholesterol level 1.6 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol level/HDL ratio 3.8
Serum LDL cholesterol level 4.2 mmol/L

Now I know that at 6.1 my total cholesterol has gone up since last year and is more than the 4 or less the NHS wants diabetics to have. The nurse did say my good HDL figure of 1.6 did counterbalance the overall high figure of 6.1.
I stopped taking statins in June, but I didn't experience any bad side effects from them. I know they have beneficial effect of strengthening the heart, so I don't have any objection to going back on them.

I have seen that others have experienced an initial rise in cholesterol levels with LCHF followed by a lowering in time.
Should my levels be coming down after 12 months? I know we are all different, but how long did it take you to see a reduction, or did yours stay high?
I would appreciate your views on this.
I will be seeing my GP within the next 3 weeks to discuss this.

An Iranian study found that the Friedwald equation used to calculate LDL (yes LDL is calculated and unless it states otherwise) is not accurate where the triglycerides are less than 1 or more than 4. This usually affects those on a poor diet or in your case most probably a lo carb diet. mine went to 7.4 when I stopped the statins last year but after 12 months has started to fall now at 6.4. however I have posted a link to a more accurate LDL calculator for those following a lo carb diet. you can read up on the Iranian study etc on the web. You might also read up on large fluffy LDL and smaller atherogenic LDL. Not sure your doc will even know this exists but there you go!

Incidentally the pathway that statins use to lower cholesterol also blocks the production of CoQ10. This is important for brain function and heart health. you might want to read up on that also. Statins do not strengthen the heart from my reading on the subject.

http://homepages.slingshot.co.nz/~geoff36/LDL_mg.htm

 

[Oldvatr]

So I got my blood test printout yesterday, and need some advice about the cholesterol levels before I see GP to discuss.
I haven't bothered too much about my cholesterol as I was more concerned with my bs levels which are now at non-diabetic figure of 39.
At my blood test 12 months ago my cholesterol was 4.7. HDL 1.2 and LDL 2.1. I don't know what the triglycerides were.

My printout shows the following figures:
Serum triglcycerides 0.7 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol 6.1 mmol/L
Serum HDL cholesterol level 1.6 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol level/HDL ratio 3.8
Serum LDL cholesterol level 4.2 mmol/L

Now I know that at 6.1 my total cholesterol has gone up since last year and is more than the 4 or less the NHS wants diabetics to have. The nurse did say my good HDL figure of 1.6 did counterbalance the overall high figure of 6.1.
I stopped taking statins in June, but I didn't experience any bad side effects from them. I know they have beneficial effect of strengthening the heart, so I don't have any objection to going back on them.

I have seen that others have experienced an initial rise in cholesterol levels with LCHF followed by a lowering in time.
Should my levels be coming down after 12 months? I know we are all different, but how long did it take you to see a reduction, or did yours stay high?
I would appreciate your views on this.
I will be seeing my GP within the next 3 weeks to discuss this.

Your figures are better than mine. The HDL id looking good, the trigs are good, and LDL is slightly high according to NHS. However, a study published last year showed thar older people actually benefit from higher levels, and a study on post mortem coronary patients showed that low LDL levels applied to most of the deaths, so high LDL was not causative in CVE mortality.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. Your figures look quite good so taking the statins is your choice. You do need cholesterol for body repairs and it increases as you age naturally. To my knowledge statins don't strengthen the heart and the jury is out, as they say, as to whether they help or hinder the body. Do take CoQ10 tablets with the statins.

 

[Kristin251]

Are you eating a lot of saturated fat like bacon, butter, chicken skin etc?
Are you eating any fatty fish like salmon or tuna?
Are you losing weight?

Many find as they are losing weight they have higher CHO. I found my CHO is much better when I lowered my sat fat and replaced it with plant fat like avocado, Evoo, nuts and mayo as well as eating salmon or tuna instead of red meat. I do eat red meat but only about twice a week and in small quantities.

Here in the US they are starting to say slightly higher CHO is now heart protective. I'm not sure what yiur numbers equate to here but HDL being high is a good thing. Personally I do run high as well but my ratios are ideal. Have you run your ratios?

 

[AtkinsMo]

Go onto the Tim Noakes Thread and watch some of the You Tube videos that relate to cholesterol. The latest one, No 21, is very relevant. Do some research and you will never touch statins again. The most important levels for heart health are Triglicerides, HDL and blood glucose. Just because statins don't give you immediate obvious side effects doesn't mean they are doing you any good.

Treat yourself to Malcolm Kendrick's book, The Great Cholesterol Con. The only people for whom statins produce any significant (though still small) benefits are men with previous history of heart disease. As a primary preventative they do no good and are likely to raise your HbA1c - according to all that I have read.

 

[Enclave]

My levels are ok to good for cholesterol .. but my Drs will not take a fasting blood test for any diabetics .. and as my appointments are for late afternoon now for blood tests I do have a non fasting blood test, and my HFN says my cholesterol numbers are good for non fasting ... is your test fasting or non fasting ?

 

[Dark Horse]

Are you eating a lot of saturated fat like bacon, butter, chicken skin etc?
Are you eating any fatty fish like salmon or tuna?
Are you losing weight?

Many find as they are losing weight they have higher CHO. I found my CHO is much better when I lowered my sat fat and replaced it with plant fat like avocado, Evoo, nuts and mayo as well as eating salmon or tuna instead of red meat. I do eat red meat but only about twice a week and in small quantities.

Here in the US they are starting to say slightly higher CHO is now heart protective. I'm not sure what yiur numbers equate to here but HDL being high is a good thing. Personally I do run high as well but my ratios are ideal. Have you run your ratios?

Thought I should point out to avoid confusion that in the UK, CHO is the standard abbreviation for carbohydrate. After re-reading your post, I assume you are using it to mean cholesterol which is normally abbreviated to "chol" in the UK.
http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php?t=16924

 

[Kristin251]

Thought I should point out to avoid confusion that in the UK, CHO is the standard abbreviation for carbohydrate. After re-reading your post, I assume you are using it to mean cholesterol which is normally abbreviated to "chol" in the UK.
http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php?t=16924

I stand corrected. Sorry

 

[Brunneria]

I would be happy with that cholesterol - particularly the HDL, the Trigs and the ratios.
The ratios are FAR more important than the total figure, and don't let your doc convince you otherwise.
If you go to an online ratio calculator, and enter your figures, you may well find they are OPTIMAL or GOOD.

Here is one:
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

 

[Dark Horse]

So I got my blood test printout yesterday, and need some advice about the cholesterol levels before I see GP to discuss.
I haven't bothered too much about my cholesterol as I was more concerned with my bs levels which are now at non-diabetic figure of 39.
At my blood test 12 months ago my cholesterol was 4.7. HDL 1.2 and LDL 2.1. I don't know what the triglycerides were.

My printout shows the following figures:
Serum triglcycerides 0.7 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol 6.1 mmol/L
Serum HDL cholesterol level 1.6 mmol/L
Serum cholesterol level/HDL ratio 3.8
Serum LDL cholesterol level 4.2 mmol/L

Now I know that at 6.1 my total cholesterol has gone up since last year and is more than the 4 or less the NHS wants diabetics to have. The nurse did say my good HDL figure of 1.6 did counterbalance the overall high figure of 6.1.
I stopped taking statins in June, but I didn't experience any bad side effects from them. I know they have beneficial effect of strengthening the heart, so I don't have any objection to going back on them.

I have seen that others have experienced an initial rise in cholesterol levels with LCHF followed by a lowering in time.
Should my levels be coming down after 12 months? I know we are all different, but how long did it take you to see a reduction, or did yours stay high?
I would appreciate your views on this.
I will be seeing my GP within the next 3 weeks to discuss this.

Your initial total cholesterol: HDL ratio was 3.9, it's now 3.8 - pretty much unchanged. This is the figure that would be plugged into the QRisk2 calculator to calculate your risk of cardiovascular disease. Normally the ideal ratio is less than 4. If you wanted to improve it, there are some suggestions here:- http://www.webmd.com/heart/how-to-boost-your-good-cholesterol

 

[Oldvatr]

My levels are ok to good for cholesterol .. but my Drs will not take a fasting blood test for any diabetics .. and as my appointments are for late afternoon now for blood tests I do have a non fasting blood test, and my HFN says my cholesterol numbers are good for non fasting ... is your test fasting or non fasting ?

Very important point this. Must be fasting to get the trigs value right. Looks like it was in Prem51 case since <1 mmol/l is good.

 

[Prem51]

Are you eating a lot of saturated fat like bacon, butter, chicken skin etc?
Are you eating any fatty fish like salmon or tuna?
Are you losing weight?

Many find as they are losing weight they have higher CHO. I found my CHO is much better when I lowered my sat fat and replaced it with plant fat like avocado, Evoo, nuts and mayo as well as eating salmon or tuna instead of red meat. I do eat red meat but only about twice a week and in small quantities.

Here in the US they are starting to say slightly higher CHO is now heart protective. I'm not sure what yiur numbers equate to here but HDL being high is a good thing. Personally I do run high as well but my ratios are ideal. Have you run your ratios?

I have been eating quite a lot of butter, cream and cheese. I haven't been eating much fish, usually only on Fridays.
I have lost about 30lbs in the last 12 months. I did stabilise at around 143lbs for about 3-4 months, but I have been fasting for the last month and have started losing weight again, now down another 5-6lbs.
I don't eat much red meat, sometimes roast lamb or beef on Sunday.

I put my figures into the calculator @Brunneria has linked to and my ratios are:
Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio = 3.83 (ideally under 3.5 - GOOD
HDL/LDL ratio = 0.381 (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) - GOOD
Triglycerides/HDL ratio = 0.987 (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) - IDEAL

 

[Prem51]

Go onto the Tim Noakes Thread and watch some of the You Tube videos that relate to cholesterol. The latest one, No 21, is very relevant. Do some research and you will never touch statins again. The most important levels for heart health are Triglicerides, HDL and blood glucose. Just because statins don't give you immediate obvious side effects doesn't mean they are doing you any good.

Treat yourself to Malcolm Kendrick's book, The Great Cholesterol Con. The only people for whom statins produce any significant (though still small) benefits are men with previous history of heart disease. As a primary preventative they do no good and are likely to raise your HbA1c - according to all that I have read.

Thanks. I'll have a look at the videos when I can, and maybe get his book to read on holiday.
I did stop taking the statins because I had read on here that they can raise bs levels.

 

[Kristin251]

I have been eating quite a lot of butter, cream and cheese. I haven't been eating much fish, usually only on Fridays.
I have lost about 30lbs in the last 12 months. I did stabilise at around 143lbs for about 3-4 months, but I have been fasting for the last month and have started losing weight again, now down another 5-6lbs.
I don't eat much red meat, sometimes roast lamb or beef on Sunday.

I put my figures into the calculator @Brunneria has linked to and my ratios are:
Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio = 3.83 (ideally under 3.5 - GOOD
HDL/LDL ratio = 0.381 (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) - GOOD
Triglycerides/HDL ratio = 0.987 (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) - IDEAL

Then I think exchanging some butter , cream and cheese for some avocado, salmon, Evoo and nuts will put you into ideal for all values. Saturated fat effects a lot of people but of course not all. Canned salmon and tuna are very convenient and great with Evoo or mayo on a lettuce wrap. I have learned to love fish and eat it almost everyday, either lunch or dinner. I do love my lamb and beef occasionally too! I alway buy 100% grass fed as they contain more omega 3's as well as more CLA. it's not that much more expensive but I don't eat large portions of protein so it goes a lot further.
Your numbers look good. I am 100% with @Brunneria that ratios are the most important. Not all doctors have caught on to that yet.

Congrats on the weight loss too! While we are in a weight loss phase some of the lipids are circulating still until excreted. If you're still losing some markers could be higher. I wouldn't worry about it with your numbers but there are some tweaks you can make that might put all markers into ideal values.

 

[Prem51]

I would be happy with that cholesterol - particularly the HDL, the Trigs and the ratios.
The ratios are FAR more important than the total figure, and don't let your doc convince you otherwise.
If you go to an online ratio calculator, and enter your figures, you may well find they are OPTIMAL or GOOD.

Here is one:
http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

Thanks for that @Brunneria .
Using that calculator my Triglcycerides last year would have been 2.99mmol/L - HIGH RISK.
On LCHF they have now come down to 0.7mmol/L - NORMAL.

My Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is 3.83 (ideally under 3.5) - GOOD
It was 3.92 last year - GOOD

HDL/LDL ratio is 0.381 (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) - GOOD
It was 0.566 last year - IDEAL

Triglycerides/HDL ratio is 0.987 (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) - IDEAL
It was 5.704 last year - HIGH RISK

So it seem my Triglycerides level has reduced considerably, but my LDL has gone up, But the ratios are better than last year.

 

[Prem51]

My levels are ok to good for cholesterol .. but my Drs will not take a fasting blood test for any diabetics .. and as my appointments are for late afternoon now for blood tests I do have a non fasting blood test, and my HFN says my cholesterol numbers are good for non fasting ... is your test fasting or non fasting ?

Why does your doctor not take a fasting blood test for diabetics?
My GP always wants a fasting blood test, except for the 3 month retest after diagnosis.
The blood test is taken by a visiting phlebotemist (don't know how to spell that!), a nurse who specialises in blood testing so they must know it's ok for a diabetic to take a fasting blood test.

 

[Prem51]

Then I think exchanging some butter , cream and cheese for some avocado, salmon, Evoo and nuts will put you into ideal for all values. Saturated fat effects a lot of people but of course not all. Canned salmon and tuna are very convenient and great with Evoo or mayo on a lettuce wrap. I have learned to love fish and eat it almost everyday, either lunch or dinner. I do love my lamb and beef occasionally too! I alway buy 100% grass fed as they contain more omega 3's as well as more CLA. it's not that much more expensive but I don't eat large portions of protein so it goes a lot further.
Your numbers look good. I am 100% with @Brunneria that ratios are the most important. Not all doctors have caught on to that yet.

Congrats on the weight loss too! While we are in a weight loss phase some of the lipids are circulating still until excreted. If you're still losing some markers could be higher. I wouldn't worry about it with your numbers but there are some tweaks you can make that might put all markers into ideal values.

Thanks @Kristin251 I will make more effort to eat avocadoes, fish and nuts.
What is Evoo?

 

[Prem51]

Thanks for all your replies. I think I need to work a bit on getting my LDL down, but overall my ratios seem good.
Armed with these figures I will be resisting any pressure from my GP to go back on statins.