cholesterol interpretation please?

[dragongirl]

Can anyone enlighten me as to this, please?
I rang the surgery as planned, to get the breakdown of my initial cholesterol figure, which I was told was 7.5 a month ago.
They wouldn't tell me over the phone, but I ended up there today taking someone else in, so I asked the doc direct.
She said the HDL was 1.5 and the ratio of HDL to total is 5 (obviously) but there was no LDL figure in my notes. How so? Trigs 4.7. I chose to enlighten her about the low-carb route I was taking till the mid-Sept consultation, and surprisingly she approved! She said this would probably bring the cholesterol down as well as the HbA1c - but couldn't explain the missing LDL. She said the HDL figure was goo but it didn't sound it.
I don't know how to interpret these figures. Does anyone understand anything from them? A knowledgeable comment would help, altho it won't produce the missing LDL figure!
Thanks.

 

[cugila]

Your HDL.....1.5 mmol/l.
A good level of HDL is 1.5 mmol/L or more and is associated with a less than average risk of heart disease.

Your Trigs...4.7 mmol/l.
In most screening lipid profiles, LDL-cholesterol is calculated from the other lipid measurements. However, the calculation is not valid if triglycerides are over 4.5 mmol/L or if you have not fasted. To determine LDL-cholesterol when triglycerides are over 4.5 mmol/L requires special testing techniques such as a direct LDL test or a lipid ultracentrifugation test which are not performed by most clinical laboratories.

Your Total Cholesterol....5 mmol/l.
The cholesterol level measured in your blood will be considered along with other risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure, smoking etc.) when assessing your overall risk of developing heart disease. This overall assessment is what will be used to decide whether or not you require further treatment in the form of dietary changes or drugs to lower your cholesterol level.
If you are taking treatment to lower your cholesterol, the target is to lower your total cholesterol to a value less than 4 mmol/L, with a fall of around 20-25%.

Ken

 

[dragongirl]

Thanks Ken. I understood your first two points but the total was 7.5 not 5 - it was the ratio that was 5, and I don't know why a ratio was significant or why 5 was "good". Any light?

Clearly my trigs need improving! Hopefully the lowered bg levels will help that?

 

[cugila]

Sorry about that DG. I misread the figures.
Here is the corrected information.

Your Total Cholesterol...........7.5 mmol/l.
The cholesterol level measured in your blood will be considered along with other risk factors for heart disease (high blood pressure, smoking etc.) when assessing your overall risk of developing heart disease. This overall assessment is what will be used to decide whether or not you require further treatment in the form of dietary changes or drugs to lower your cholesterol level.
If you are taking treatment to lower your cholesterol, the target is to lower your total cholesterol to a value less than 4 mmol/L, with a fall of around 20-25

HDL/Total Ratio is not very clear in the Lab test information.

That is all the information I have about this, it does not tell me how the calculation is worked out along with the risk factors. It appears to be Lab specific as well ? That also appears to be the reason why there is no LDL figure. You need real 'expert' to decipher this one.

Ken.