Cholesterol query - is this bad or okay?

[Snapsy]

Hi folks,

I had an unexpected unfasted cholesterol test recently and the numbers came back so high that they then re-retested me the next week (I had to go in again anyway as they hadn't in fact done the thyroid test I actually went in for!). The cholesterol test has made me wonder whether I should be alarmed or reassured.

I know there are all these cholesterol calculators out there but I'm finding them difficult to navigate as the names for each bit seem to vary between my list of specific measurements and some of the names given online. Would anybody be able to offer me any assistance on whether this list is good/bad/life-threatening? They've asked me to make an appointment with the nurse, which I've done, but I'd like to have an idea myself, so I thought I'd ask my friends on here.

I was tested unfasted on the 14th, and again, but fasted, on the 21st.

Fasted results
Serum cholesterol: 6.2 mmol/l (down from 7.2 unfasted, ref range less than 5.0)
Serum triglycerides: 0.8 mmol/l (up from 0.5 unfasted, ref range less than 1.7)
Serum HDL cholesterol level: 3.0 mmol/l (down from 3.8 unfasted, ref range 1.2 - 3.0)
Calculated LDL cholesterol level: 2.8 mmol/l (down from 3.2 unfasted, ref range 1.0 - 3.0)
Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio: 2.1 (up from 1.9 unfasted)
Se non HDL cholesterol level: 3.2 mmol/l (down from 3.4 unfasted, ref range less than 2.5)

I eat 50g - 80g carbohydrate a day, in the form of veg, salad veg and dairy.
I eat relatively higher fat for my evening meals, which often feature cheese, cream or cream cheese.
I am just over 6ft tall and weigh 10st 10lb. Female.

I hope you don't mind me picking your brains, but any advice (or reassurance, if indeed even appropriate!) would be hugely and Snapsily appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Hi Snapsy, total cholesterol of 6.2 is certainly more than they like. Is it bad or OK is another question all together. Both my MIL and my father, both now 90, have been told to take statins in the last 2 years because of cholesterol higher than their doctors like. I'm no medic but getting to 90 with cholesterol that the medical profession think is bad is probably good, but it all depends on the individual. So in reality a difficult question to answer.

often feature cheese, cream or cream cheese.

In my own experience increasing cheese and cream also increased my total cholesterol from 4 to 5.7. Your system might handle things differently but it might be worth cutting, just to see if it helps.

Sorry if the answers are concise, but I'd hate to advise one way or the other, but I can tell you about my experiences.

Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio: 2.1 (up from 1.9 unfasted)

The Mayo clinic say an optimal ratio is less than 3.5-to-1, the higher the number the higher the risk of heart problems.

 

[Rachox]

It does your head in doesn't it! :***: I had to have the cholesterol/Statins convo with my GP last week, which I guess your nurse appt will be. I wasn't keen on starting them (they raise blood sugars and have nasty side effects. Cholesterol levels are often derranged after weight loss too). I got a reprieve, we'll discuss it again in December! @bulkbiker helped me out with more background info about cholesterol and Statins too.

 

[Snapsy]

I've been on Atorvastatin ever since my TC measured 4.1 in the week that GPs had been advised to put all type 2s on statins if their TC was over 4. I think he was trying to conform. I think I was in my mid 30s at the time, and I was horrified. That's some years ago now, and I've kept taking them (no side effects for me, thankfully).

I suspect I need to watch the fat, as I used to in the old days! I think that because I'm very slim I have been lulled into a false sense of security!

Thank you so much @DavidGrahamJones and @Rachox foryour input - really useful and much appreciated.

xx

 

[Rachox]

I've been on Atorvastatin ever since my TC measured 4.1 in the week that GPs had been advised to put all type 2s on statins if their TC was over 4. I think he was trying to conform. I think I was in my mid 30s at the time, and I was horrified. That's some years ago now, and I've kept taking them (no side effects for me, thankfully).

I suspect I need to watch the fat, as I used to in the old days! I think that because I'm very slim I have been lulled into a false sense of security!

Thank you so much @DavidGrahamJones and @Rachox foryour input - really useful and much appreciated.

xx

I'm glad you don't get side effects from Statins. I guess they might want to raise your dose then?

 

[ziggy_w]

Hi folks,

I had an unexpected unfasted cholesterol test recently and the numbers came back so high that they then re-retested me the next week (I had to go in again anyway as they hadn't in fact done the thyroid test I actually went in for!). The cholesterol test has made me wonder whether I should be alarmed or reassured.

I know there are all these cholesterol calculators out there but I'm finding them difficult to navigate as the names for each bit seem to vary between my list of specific measurements and some of the names given online. Would anybody be able to offer me any assistance on whether this list is good/bad/life-threatening? They've asked me to make an appointment with the nurse, which I've done, but I'd like to have an idea myself, so I thought I'd ask my friends on here.

I was tested unfasted on the 14th, and again, but fasted, on the 21st.

Fasted results
Serum cholesterol: 6.2 mmol/l (down from 7.2 unfasted, ref range less than 5.0)
Serum triglycerides: 0.8 mmol/l (up from 0.5 unfasted, ref range less than 1.7)
Serum HDL cholesterol level: 3.0 mmol/l (down from 3.8 unfasted, ref range 1.2 - 3.0)
Calculated LDL cholesterol level: 2.8 mmol/l (down from 3.2 unfasted, ref range 1.0 - 3.0)
Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio: 2.1 (up from 1.9 unfasted)
Se non HDL cholesterol level: 3.2 mmol/l (down from 3.4 unfasted, ref range less than 2.5)

I eat 50g - 80g carbohydrate a day, in the form of veg, salad veg and dairy.
I eat relatively higher fat for my evening meals, which often feature cheese, cream or cream cheese.
I am just over 6ft tall and weigh 10st 10lb. Female.

I hope you don't mind me picking your brains, but any advice (or reassurance, if indeed even appropriate!) would be hugely and Snapsily appreciated.
Thank you.

Hi @Snapsy,

I have just recently had a lipid panel too. By chance, the website with the cholesterol calculator was still open, so I entered your numbers.

Here is the output for you:

Your Total Cholesterol of 6.20 is HIGH RISK
Your LDL of 2.83 is NEAR OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 3 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 0.80 is NORMAL
RATIOS:
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.07 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 1.060 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.610 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

So, you see that your ratios are all ideal. The only value that jumps out is total cholesterol -- and to my knowledge the jury is still out on whether this is really a problem.

Here is the link to the calculator: http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

 

[Pinkorchid]

(they raise blood sugars and have nasty side effects.

Not for everyone they don't I have been taking them for about 10 years now I have good BG levels and I have never had any side effects

 

[bulkbiker]

Think I would concur completely with @ziggy_w
Your ratios are all ideal.. Total cholesterol is a meaningless number best ignored.
Looks pretty perfect to me.. wonder what they would be like without the statins?

 

[Pinkorchid]

I suspect I need to watch the fat, as I used to in the old days! I think that because I'm very slim I have been lulled into a false sense of security!

Yes me to I have always been slim and when I started to eat more full fat than I had always done my cholesterol shot up at two consecutive 6 monthly blood tests although I was taking statins so I went back to lower fat again and hopefully my cholesterol will have gone down at my next blood test

 

[Rachox]

Not for everyone they don't I have been taking them for about 10 years now I have good BG levels and I have never had any side effects

Oh of course not everyone gets side effects but it scares me as I have a history of drug allergies and intolerances. I've worked hard to get my blood sugars down and don't want to rock the boat, yet at least. I'm pleased for anyone who can take them successfully.

 

[TheBigNewt]

I treat cholesterol/lipids all the time. If my conversions are correct your HDLc (good) is pretty darn high, which brings your LDLc (bad) down to about 108mg/dl (we use that here) which is fine. Remember that the "total" cholesterol figure includes the bad LDL, the good HDL, and 20% of the triglycerides all added together. So a high good cholesterol HDL number brings your total upward even though it's a good thing to have and protects you against coronary disease. You're looking good dude! BTW fasting doesn't really change the cholesterol numbers, what it can raise significantly is are the triglycerides especially in people who run really high ones. They always tell you to fast though just in case.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

the jury is still out on whether this is really a problem.

My wife's TC is over 6 but her HDL is very high, can't remember the number but the GP isn't too worried.

 

[TheBigNewt]

My wife's TC is over 6 but her HDL is very high, can't remember the number but the GP isn't too worried.

Right. And she probably isn't a Type 2 diabetic either. Statins will do a pretty good job lowering LDL but there's really nothing available that significantly raises HDL. You either got it or ya don't.

 

[Robkww]

Hi @Snapsy,

I have just recently had a lipid panel too. By chance, the website with the cholesterol calculator was still open, so I entered your numbers.

Here is the output for you:

Your Total Cholesterol of 6.20 is HIGH RISK
Your LDL of 2.83 is NEAR OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 3 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 0.80 is NORMAL
RATIOS:
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.07 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 1.060 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.610 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

So, you see that your ratios are all ideal. The only value that jumps out is total cholesterol -- and to my knowledge the jury is still out on whether this is really a problem.

Here is the link to the calculator: http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

I must be missing something here in relation to the calculator. All my levels and ratios are good but my HDL is rated High Risk at a level of 1.23 when Heart UK state ideally HDL for men should be over 1.00?

 

[Rachox]

I must be missing something here in relation to the calculator. All my levels and ratios are good but my HDL is rated High Risk at a level of 1.23 when Heart UK state ideally HDL for men should be over 1.00?

I get the same High Risk for HDL on the calculator, yet ratios are Good, Good and Normal. My HDL is 1.4 and Heart UK says over 1.2 for women

 

[AloeSvea]

...Both my MIL and my father, both now 90, have been told to take statins in the last 2 years because of cholesterol higher than their doctors like. I'm no medic but getting to 90 with cholesterol that the medical profession think is bad is probably good, but it all depends on the individual. So in reality a difficult question to answer. ...

Hi there - I just had to add my two cents worth on this issue, as I get very emotional about GPs prescribing statins to the elderly. There is research, and I have read at least one study myself that compares death rates for statins and non-statin use in the elderly (I don't have time to hunt it up, but I can do so given more time...) (but I am pretty sure Malcolm Kendrick in The Cholesterol Con writes about this if my memory serves me correctly, and absolutely includes citations of the research - he is just fantastic in this way).

Anyway this research says that higher cholesterol is actually protective for the elderly. And taking statins - the opposite. In other words, to lower an elderly persons cholesterol will actually knock time off, not add to it. They die earlier!

I know! Horrible! (I have elderly parents who have both been prescribed statins, hence my own strong feeling about this.) Did I talk them out of taking it ? - no mean feat considering the extremely high levels of (I would say blind, but...) compliance with GPs and medical opinion, from that generation. But my father stopped taking them due to muscle problems, which is a very common side effect. And he is a very physical person, or was at any rate, until very recently. My mother? She says she has stopped taking them, but who knows.

Statins have side effects also, which can seriously affect the good health of individuals, the older even more so. Some of the side effects are because the drugs block nutritional pathways, like CQ10, the most known one. This is not good for anyone, but when you are so elderly - well.

If they want to take them, regardless of the stats, try and convince them to take CQ10 supplementation. That's what I do with friends of mine who choose to go the cholesterol lowering route to try and prevent CVDs and strokes.

 

[Robkww]

I get the same High Risk for HDL on the calculator, yet ratios are Good, Good and Normal. My HDL is 1.4 and Heart UK says over 1.2 for women

Doesn't differentiate between men and women either?

 

[Bluetit1802]

@Snapsy. My two pennoth is your HDL and Trigs are superb and that is all that matters. I would be very happy.

 

[Snapsy]

I guess they might want to raise your dose then?

I suspect so..... The practice nurse I am due to be seeing is the diabetes specialist at the practice........ who has come to me for advice in the past for carb counting questions etc. Will see how it goes!

 

[Snapsy]

Hi @Snapsy,

I have just recently had a lipid panel too. By chance, the website with the cholesterol calculator was still open, so I entered your numbers.

Here is the output for you:

Your Total Cholesterol of 6.20 is HIGH RISK
Your LDL of 2.83 is NEAR OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 3 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 0.80 is NORMAL
RATIOS:
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.07 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 1.060 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.610 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

So, you see that your ratios are all ideal. The only value that jumps out is total cholesterol -- and to my knowledge the jury is still out on whether this is really a problem.

Here is the link to the calculator: http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php

@ziggy_w I am ever so slightly in love with you for this..... thank you!