Cholesterol Level Up

[AndBreathe]

Interesting. Do you know what the recommended levels are in other counties. My is
Serum TSH level:

1.06 miu/L

Normal range:

0.35 to 4.94

TSH is an extremely blunt tool for testing for thyroid issues. Aside from all else, TSH isn't even a thyroid hormone. It is produced in the pituitary gland and signals the thyroid to get a wiggle on and produce some T4. The higher the TSH, the harder it's having to shout at the thyroid to get a move on. I'll spare you the rest of the cycle.

Generally speaking, a TSH of under two is considered a euthyroid state, meaning thyroid function is OK. So, on that front you're looking OK, on the information your test supplied.

In UK, NICE guidelines rule that treatment should not be started until TSH exceeds 10, on 2 tests, a few weeks apart. There are exceptions to this, where someone has extreme symptoms and a TSH over 5, a 6 month trial of thyroxine can be justified. In other countries, like USA, the threshold for treatment is 5.

 

[AndBreathe]

I think it may have been @AndBreathe who posted about thyroid issues. Apologies if it wasn't.

I can bore you all on thyroid.

 

[AndBreathe]

Mines 0.56 and I'm worried, but because its in range (just) G P ignores it

TSH of under 2 is generally considered euthyroid, in the absence of symptoms. Unless you have symptoms you believe to be thyroid related, I'd relax with that TSH.

 

[AndBreathe]

They will not do a T3 or a T4 test if your TSH levels are in range, under British Columbia guidelines.

That is similar to UK, although, if the GP writes in big angry writing, they sometimes do it. The do as they are told when the endo signs the blood papers.

 

[AndBreathe]

DO 4 posts in a row make it spam?

 

[Melgar]

TSH is an extremely blunt tool for testing for thyroid issues. Aside from all else, TSH isn't even a thyroid hormone. It is produced in the pituitary gland and signals the thyroid to get a wiggle on and produce some T4. The higher the TSH, the harder it's having to shout at the thyroid to get a move on. I'll spare you the rest of the cycle.

Generally speaking, a TSH of under two is considered a euthyroid state, meaning thyroid function is OK. So, on that front you're looking OK, on the information your test supplied.

In UK, NICE guidelines rule that treatment should not be started until TSH exceeds 10, on 2 tests, a few weeks apart. There are exceptions to this, where someone has extreme symptoms and a TSH over 5, a 6 month trial of thyroxine can be justified. In other countries, like USA, the threshold for treatment is 5.

In BC Canada it’s 0.32 - 5.04 mmol/ls
My TSH levels was 1.12. It’s lower than the last test which was 1.27. SoI don’t know if my TSH levels are falling or it’s just a natural fluctuation. I do get Tachlardic on occasions and it’s obvious, like it’s 120 bpm just standing doing nothing and my night time resting heart rates goes up to 81 bpm from 68 bpm. So I dont know. I will have to mention to my Dr I guess .

edited I wrote the wrong number

 

[Hopeful34]

I can bore you all on thyroid.

You won't bore me @AndBreathe I had overactive thyroid treated with carbimazole on two occasions. Endocrinologist wanted me to have surgery or radioactive iodine, but I didn't want either as underactive thyroid runs in the family, and fortunately he allowed me to carry on with the tablets until it sorted itself out. (Not a done thing in this country) Fast-forward a few years and sure enough underactive thyroid symptoms started appearing.

I could hug the Consultant for this, I'm so grateful to him.

 

[eventhorizon]

TSH is an extremely blunt tool for testing for thyroid issues. Aside from all else, TSH isn't even a thyroid hormone. It is produced in the pituitary gland and signals the thyroid to get a wiggle on and produce some T4. The higher the TSH, the harder it's having to shout at the thyroid to get a move on. I'll spare you the rest of the cycle.

Generally speaking, a TSH of under two is considered a euthyroid state, meaning thyroid function is OK. So, on that front you're looking OK, on the information your test supplied.

In UK, NICE guidelines rule that treatment should not be started until TSH exceeds 10, on 2 tests, a few weeks apart. There are exceptions to this, where someone has extreme symptoms and a TSH over 5, a 6 month trial of thyroxine can be justified. In other countries, like USA, the threshold for treatment is 5.

Just to be clear in my head. A lower TSH number means the thyroid is more likely to be functioning correctly. Right?? Thanks.

 

[AndBreathe]

In BC Canada it’s 0.32 - 5.04 mmol/ls
My TSH levels was 1.12. It’s lower than the last test which was 1.27. SoI don’t know if my TSH levels are falling or it’s just a natural fluctuation. I do get Tachlardic on occasions and it’s obvious, like it’s 120 bpm just standing doing nothing and my night time resting heart rates goes up to 81 bpm from 68 bpm. So I dont know. I will have to mention to my Dr I guess .

edited I wrote the wrong number

I doubt a variation from 1.27 to 1.12 would be considered materially important.

My TSH on last test was 0.02, but that is because of the thyroid meds I take. If you take the hormones, your TSH doesn't have to call for action.

 

[AndBreathe]

You won't bore me @AndBreathe I had overactive thyroid treated with carbimazole on two occasions. Endocrinologist wanted me to have surgery or radioactive iodine, but I didn't want either as underactive thyroid runs in the family, and fortunately he allowed me to carry on with the tablets until it sorted itself out. (Not a done thing in this country) Fast-forward a few years and sure enough underactive thyroid symptoms started appearing.

I could hug the Consultant for this, I'm so grateful to him.

My mother had hyperthyroidism, which, with treatment, eventually resolved. In that regards, apparently you and she are quite unusual.

 

[Hopeful34]

My mother had hyperthyroidism, which, with treatment, eventually resolved. In that regards, apparently you and she are quite unusual.

That's interesting. My body frequently does the opposite of what most people's do! At times that's good, at other times, definitely not! Keeps me on my toes anyway.

 

[Melgar]

I doubt a variation from 1.27 to 1.12 would be considered materially important.

My TSH on last test was 0.02, but that is because of the thyroid meds I take. If you take the hormones, your TSH doesn't have to call for action.

Oh wow yours are really low. No doubt on that. They will no doubt test me again. I lose weight at the same time as the heart thing, but I’m guessing if your system revs up then weight loss is natural. It will be telling with another text which I’m guessing they will do. My Triglycerides are dropping too.

 

[Melgar]

Look on heartuk.org.uk for their explanation of levels and more importantly the ratios between them.
All yours are good, especially triglycerides and HDL. It's only the ldl that is above where it should be.
I'm just exactly the same boat . Total has gone up including the (good) hdl , and nice low triglycerides. I'm doing lots of research to try to find what this means, old school seems to think ldl alone is enough to worry about while ignoring the good, new school saying high ldl isn't to worry about either.

I thought having low triglycerides was a good thing. In fact I felt positively angelic, until the Dr said the imbalance between my high cholesterol and my low Triglycerides was not normal. I was on the very low carb diet, but came off it when I lost weight I could not afford to lose and to top it off my blood sugars remained raised. So the first lipid test with high cholesterol and low Triglycerides, I put it down to an increase in full fat Dairy. I’ve since cut out most of the Dairy, so not much fat at all, and my cholesterol went up and my Triglycerides went down further. Go figure. So they keep coming back to Hyperthyroidism.

 

[AndBreathe]

Just to be clear in my head. A lower TSH number means the thyroid is more likely to be functioning correctly. Right?? Thanks.

It can be very low in other circumstances, but as a rule of thumb, you are correct.

Like all things though, if you have concerns, best to have them checked out by a professional with the correct tests and diagnostic tools at their fingertips.

 

[eventhorizon]

It can be very low in other circumstances, but as a rule of thumb, you are correct.

Like all things though, if you have concerns, best to have them checked out by a professional with the correct tests and diagnostic tools at their fingertips.

Thanks. Not concerned, just interested. Every day is a school day! I feel fantastic, positively buzzing but worried about my high cholesterol.

 

[AndBreathe]

Thanks. Not concerned, just interested. Every day is a school day! I feel fantastic, positively buzzing but worried about my high cholesterol.

My lipids are always running higher than most GPs feel comfortable with.

When I took part in some research into T2 cardiac health, I had a fabulous cardiac MOT, which included a CAC scan. It showed minimal build up and the discussion around it was that the cardiologists could see no reason I should take statins at the moment, although if I were to have a cardiac event, that would change.

For me, consultant cardiologists trump GPs on heart health.

 

[KennyA]

Thanks. Not concerned, just interested. Every day is a school day! I feel fantastic, positively buzzing but worried about my high cholesterol.

It might be worth you having a read of some recent research on cholesterol and mortality. All these papers have excellent references and will give you some further reading.

Total cholesterol and all-cause mortality by sex and age: a prospective cohort study among 12.8 million adults - Scientific Reports

It is unclear whether associations between total cholesterol (TC) levels and all-cause mortality and the optimal TC ranges for lowest mortality vary by sex and age. 12,815,006 Korean adults underwent routine health examinations during 2001–2004, and were followed until 2013. During follow-up...

www.nature.com

Re-evaluation of the traditional diet-heart hypothesis: analysis of recovered data from Minnesota Coronary Experiment (1968-73)

Objective To examine the traditional diet-heart hypothesis through recovery and analysis of previously unpublished data from the Minnesota Coronary Experiment (MCE) and to put findings in the context of existing diet-heart randomized controlled trials through a systematic review and...

www.bmj.com

Is the use of cholesterol in mortality risk algorithms in clinical guidelines valid? Ten years prospective data from the Norwegian HUNT 2 study - PMC

Many clinical guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) prevention contain risk estimation charts/calculators. These have shown a tendency to overestimate risk, which indicates that there might be theoretical flaws in the algorithms. Total ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[eventhorizon]

My lipids are always running higher than most GPs feel comfortable with.

When I took part in some research into T2 cardiac health, I had a fabulous cardiac MOT, which included a CAC scan. It showed minimal build up and the discussion around it was that the cardiologists could see no reason I should take statins at the moment, although if I were to have a cardiac event, that would change.

For me, consultant cardiologists trump GPs on heart health.

As it happens I had an unrelated heart scare 3 years ago which turned out to be nothing. However they did lots of tests and scans and everything was as clean as a whistle in there.

 

[ElenaP]

I have just returned from an appointment with my Endocrinologist. Now I have a dilemma because her opinion is that I should start taking statins. When I said to her that the Cardiologist had seen my readings, but had not asked me to go on statins (only an implanted heart monitor for diagnosis), the Endocrinologist said that Cardiologists do not know about Type1. She said that there is a new recommendation that Type1s should go on statins if readings are higher than ideal. My readings are as follows: Total 6.3; HDL 2.23; serum cholesterol/HDL ratio 2.8; and non HDL cholesterol 4.1. The Endocrinologist says she recommends statins because the non HDL cholesterol level is more than 3.

I do not know from where this recommendation has come from. For years I thought I was safe because my HDL cholesterol has always been healthy. I used to believe that a healthy ratio was important, but it seems that the recommendations are changing.

Until now I have been firm in my resolution not to take statins, but then she started taking about the recent TIA (mini stroke) as a stroke and how statins would prevent further TIAs. I am not convinced, as yet.

 

[ElenaP]

She said that there is a new recommendation that Type1s should go on statins if readings are higher than ideal.

I forgot to mention that the Endocrinologist said that statins recommenmdation is because I am over 75.