HBa1C and Cholesterol results.

[simply_h]

Hello All,

Hope we are all well.

I have just had my latest HBa1C back and its at 39 (5.7%) which put a big smile on my face, as now I am in the 5% Club.. 

The doctor told me I was now at non-diabetic level now… I still know I am diabetic like..lol.

Anyway my next target is either less than 5.4% or high 4’s %.

As Hba1C at 5.7% still works out at 7mmol average, which is OK, but I would like it to be better.

Now onto cholesterol, which is causing me some pain as the results came back too.

There were July 2012
HDL 1.46
LDL 5.3
Trigs 1.0
HbA1c – 5.7%
Which I am told is a total of 8.3.

For history below are my previous results.
June 2012
HDL 1.46 %
LDL 5.7%
Trigs 1.1%
HbA1c – was not due.
A total of 7.7

March 2012
HDL : 1.3
LDL : 5.3
Trig : 1.0
HbA1c 6.3%

Nov 11 they where
HDL – 1.3%
LDL 4.4%
Trigs – 1.3%
HbA1c 6.3%

In Feb 11 they where
HLD – 1.4%
LDL – 5.5%
Trigs – Don’t know.
HbA1c 6.7%

I don’t take satins, but I got an ear bashing from my doctor, who said that I am now at greater risk from cholesterol than diabetes and he urges me to take my satins..

I am still not in the mood for taking satins and taking his word that satins will do me good or that he said that satins will actually raise my HDL levels, which in turn will give me more protection from LDLs.

Any ideas views on what I should do etc.

Cheers
Simply_h

 

[Patch]

IN your position, I would be happy with those results, and wouldn't change a thing. Even you CHOL numbers are fine.

Well done!

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Personally I would listen to my doctor and cardiologist but if you want to listen to the 'experts' here on the forum that is your decision. I suppose I am saying you have to make up your own mind who to believe.

As far as I know statins work very well at reducing cholesterol and your total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol are outside the recommended range even for a non diabetic.

Have you considered the possibility of taking a statin for a period of time to help reduce your cholesterol you could then re evaluate whether to continue taking one?

Normal in range (non diabetic):
Cholesterol..........................3.7 to 5.2
Trigs..................................0 to 2.3
HDL.......should be greater than 0.9
LDL...................................0 to 4

 

[simply_h]

Patch, Sid,

Here is the issue with the good old cholesteral issue.

Our NHS Doctors want us on satins as soon as possible, but with some poeple having issues with them and others have no issues at all its a bit like trial and error.

So i guess what is really classed as high cholesteral and what actually effect will it have if you only high LDL's as all the rest of the bits seem normal.

As from the research I have done, I am looking good / OK-ish in all areas apart from the LDL issue.

I was just looking for other people views and experiences.

Cheers
Simply_h

 

[librarising]

simply_h wrote
I was just looking for other people views and experiences.

Firstly your last total wasn't 8.3.
Your HDL stayed level and LDL/trigs both reduced, so how could total go up :crazy:
I make your total 7.2 (where total = HDL + LDL + [trigs/2.19] )

I would see your total and LDL as both on the high side, but would say that older people have higher cholesterol figures without any dangers that I'm aware of. I don't know your age, so that may not be a helpful comment

I don't know whether you low carb, since that should help to reduce LDL.

As a statin naysayer, I would never take a statin since other approaches to cholesterol lowering/balancing are available, and I don't believe in the cholesterol - heart disease hypothesis anyway (check out The Cholesterol Myth by Dr Malcolm Kendrick.)

Geoff

 

[simply_h]

Hi Geoff,

I am aged 36 and have been low carbing for over a year. I consume around 100grams of carbs per day.

The LDL's almost seems to be refusing to come down with the aceptable range for my GP, but on the other hand the HbA1c has come down and my GP is very happy about that one.

Cheers
Simply_h

 

[angua]

Hello All,

Hope we are all well.

I have just had my latest HBa1C back and its at 39 (5.7%) which put a big smile on my face, as now I am in the 5% Club.. 

The doctor told me I was now at non-diabetic level now… I still know I am diabetic like..lol.

Anyway my next target is either less than 5.4% or high 4’s %.

As Hba1C at 5.7% still works out at 7mmol average, which is OK, but I would like it to be better.

Now onto cholesterol, which is causing me some pain as the results came back too.

There were July 2012
HDL 1.46
LDL 5.3
Trigs 1.0
HbA1c – 5.7%
Which I am told is a total of 8.3.

For history below are my previous results.
June 2012
HDL 1.46 %
LDL 5.7%
Trigs 1.1%
HbA1c – was not due.
A total of 7.7

March 2012
HDL : 1.3
LDL : 5.3
Trig : 1.0
HbA1c 6.3%

Nov 11 they where
HDL – 1.3%
LDL 4.4%
Trigs – 1.3%
HbA1c 6.3%

In Feb 11 they where
HLD – 1.4%
LDL – 5.5%
Trigs – Don’t know.
HbA1c 6.7%

I don’t take satins, but I got an ear bashing from my doctor, who said that I am now at greater risk from cholesterol than diabetes and he urges me to take my satins..

I am still not in the mood for taking satins and taking his word that satins will do me good or that he said that satins will actually raise my HDL levels, which in turn will give me more protection from LDLs.

Any ideas views on what I should do etc.

Cheers
Simply_h

Well this might cheer you up Simply but its not great for me roblem:

July 2010

HDL 0.90
LDL 2.9
Trigs 2.6
Ratio 5.6

April 2012
HDL 1.04
LDL 3.6
Trigs 3.6
Ratio 6.1
HBa1c 58 or 7.5%

Weirdly even tho my my trigs and LDLs are high - I have for the last fifteen years at least tried to keep to a really low fat diet, cutting off all visible fat, didn't each much butter lots of fruit & veg and used copious amount of olive oil for cooking and salad dressings ... the only sin was wine (maybe 8 or 9 bottles over a week)
so why are my results so ****** ?
So yep, all comments gratefully received

Gilly

 

[librarising]

angua wrote
Weirdly even tho my my trigs and LDLs are high - I have for the last fifteen years at least tried to keep to a really low fat diet, cutting off all visible fat, didn't each much butter ...

Gilly, you seem to equate dietary cholesterol with blood levels of cholesterol. This is now acknowledged to be a wrong linking of the two.
The biggest culprit for raising trigs is carbohydrates.
The best way of dealing with high blood cholesterol is to go on a low-carb diet. This was found to be most effective when compared with low fat and low GI diets, as discussed on this thread

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=30790

Geoff

 

[angua]

Gilly, you seem to equate dietary cholesterol with blood levels of cholesterol. This is now acknowledged to be a wrong linking of the two.
The biggest culprit for raising trigs is carbohydrates.
The best way of dealing with high blood cholesterol is to go on a low-carb diet. This was found to be most effective when compared with low fat and low GI diets, as discussed on this thread

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=30790

Geoff

Thanks for the link there

I think in essence Geoff I was trying to say that my previous "healthy" low fat, low sugar (by that I mean the added sort not the carb kind) diet is the one that my new cholesterol levels have proved without doubt (to me) - has not worked.

I am currently trying to keep to around 30 carbs, so hopefully my next tests should show some changes

Gilly

 

[RobsterinSheff]

A1C 5.7% equates to an estimated average glucose of 6.48mmol/l so you are doing even better on that then you thought!

If cholesterol is stubborn have you tested TSH? Poor or low functioning thyroid has a negative impact on cholesterol.

Others- not myself- might point to a LCHF dietary approach as the culprit- especially if the HF element is largely saturated and dairy.

I am not convinced by either side on this debate as yet- so I prefer a med-carb approach (<= 150g per day no 'white' carbs, refined carbs, added sugar, bread or potatoes) and try to control my sat fat intake.

But I have hashimotos as well and have been unable to get my cholesterol ratio lower than 5.9 for 8 years...

 

[angua]

A1C 5.7% equates to an estimated average glucose of 6.48mmol/l so you are doing even better on that then you thought!

Can you give me the formula for your calculation ?

I hear what you are saying about med carbs but unfortunately I don't seem to be able to handle that amount at the moment, maybe after some weight loss but currently my body seems very sensitive to carbs ...

 

[Sid Bonkers]

Gilly, you seem to equate dietary cholesterol with blood levels of cholesterol. This is now acknowledged to be a wrong linking of the two.
The biggest culprit for raising trigs is carbohydrates.
The best way of dealing with high blood cholesterol is to go on a low-carb diet.

I find this very hard to accept Geoff as I eat carbs with every meal and have a trigs reading of .5 mmol/L and before I was diagnosed with diabetes 3 plus years ago and before I lost 4 plus stone in weight I would eat mountains of carbs with every meal not just the small amounts I eat now.

No whatever the reason for cholesterol I dont believe it has anything to do with eating carbs, whether it has anything to do with eating fat especially saturated fats I really couldnt say but I do know that every cardiologist I have every spoken to and I have spoken to a few :roll: all say to avoid eating too much saturated fat in your diet.

And I will repeat what I have said here many times before that I will take the advice of the cardiologists I have spoken to over that of a couple writers and a few people who make their livings selling low carb books and products on the internet.

 

[noblehead]

Any ideas views on what I should do etc.

In your shoes I would certainly be considering statins as your LDL is extremely high at 5.3 (should be below 2 in people with diabetes). You could try them but state to your gp that you want to stop them once your LDL falls into the normal range.

 

[benedict]

I wonder whether it's worth asking about the effect of the quantity of macronutrients that are taken in. I would imagine that an intake of too many calories (from any macronutrients) might increase trig levels. I haven't researched this so am just posing the question.

Sid, I understand you're good at limiting your calorific intake, so perhaps that explains your healthy trig levels?

Benedict

 

[Grazer]

Gilly, you seem to equate dietary cholesterol with blood levels of cholesterol. This is now acknowledged to be a wrong linking of the two.
The biggest culprit for raising trigs is carbohydrates.
Geoff

l

I agree Geoff. Most of the studies I've read suggest that. Suggestions are that LDL goes up a bit with high fat (whereas the low carbs drag trigs down even more). I just know that since reducing my carbs and increasing saturated fats, my total cholesterol has gone from 5.5to 3.8 with no change in meds. Guess I'll stick to that.

 

[borofergie]

I find this very hard to accept Geoff as I eat carbs with every meal and have a trigs reading of .5 mmol/L and before I was diagnosed with diabetes 3 plus years ago and before I lost 4 plus stone in weight I would eat mountains of carbs with every meal not just the small amounts I eat now.

But you still eat a relatively low-carb diet, don't you Sid? You might not count the carbs, but your portion control system achieves the same thing in the end...

I wonder whether it's worth asking about the effect of the quantity of macronutrients that are taken in. I would imagine that an intake of too many calories (from any macronutrients) might increase trig levels. I haven't researched this so am just posing the question.

I think that the science is pretty clear on this:

One of the more remarkable results from Jeff Volek’s laboratory in the past few years was the demonstration that when the blood of volunteers was assayed for saturated fatty acids, those who had been on a low carbohydrate diet had lower levels than those on an isocaloric low-fat diet. This, despite the fact that the low-carbohydrate diet had three times the amount of saturated fat as the low-fat diet.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/37202414/Volek_ ... s_2008.pdf

Of course there are individual variations, but low-carbing is generally the most effective way of reducing your trigs, increasing your HDL, and improving the quality (but not the quantitiy) of LDL:

Dietary carbohydrate restriction is the single most effective method (except for total starvation) of reducing triglycerides, and is as effective as any intervention, including most drugs, at increasing HDL and reducing the number of small-dense LDL particles. Beyond lipid markers, carbohydrate restriction improves all of the features of metabolic syndrome.

 

[RobsterinSheff]

"what formula are you using"

Google 'A1C to EAG conversion'- make sure it explicitly states it's an EAG conversion- some tables (and bloggers) confuse/ mislead and give 'mean plasma glucose' converted numbers- which are slightly different than EAG and give you your 7mmol/l number.

There are also apps= I use "HBA1C converter" for iDevices by rapidmoose (I am sure its available for android as well).

So formula via various websites for EAG (not MPG) A1C conversion is:

28.7 * A1C - 46.7 = EAG (in mg/dl) which you then do a simple conversion to for mmol/l.

That gives you (with A1C of 5.7) your 'estimated average glucose' number as 116.89mg/dl or 6.48mmol/l = a good score as many consider an EAG below 6.5 as "non diabetic" (not hard core LCers though).

On carb intake I would get a good meter and test strip 120 minutes after consumption: I can tolerate brown rice very well/ whole pasta averagely and potatoes very badly. So I can maintain a lo-med but not insignificant carb (max of 150g per day) intake and see non diabetic test scores: and my diet contains up to that amount even with losing pasta and bread from my it (basmati brown rice regularly), and I also have the occasional M and S no wheat bread slice (21g of carb per 100g better than Burgen by quite a distance)...

I already lost 4 stone since February- in fact a stone and a half of that was in March/ early April when I was seriously HG (and simply peeing away all the glucose/ calories)- and that's how I got diagnosed end of April having been abroad for most of April before I saw GP and he arranged HBA1C (13.5), and then start of May officially.

I think 70% of my weight loss since has been down to increased activity: but my diet has also changed significantly = I might seem high to some at 150g carb (max) per day but I calculated I was on 325-450g of carb a day for the last decade :-(

I am not looking for LC and dietary ketosis as exercise (for me personally) feels like its treating the whole me and not just the T2D. Plus it works (for me) in getting off the weight). 26kg lost since 'high' point of July 2011 and another 13 to go for BMI of 24.9.

 

[Juliette40]

Hello!

Thank you for posting your topic. I have a similar problem of low HBa1c (37 or 5.5) and increased cholesterol (6.3). I have been T2 for a year now and have lost 9 stone due to a low carb diet yet my cholesterol levels have increased steadily from 4.6 to 6.3. I eat hardly any fat, let alone saturated fats. My GP told me that the liver makes cholesterol so results can be high, even on a low fat diet! Like you, she wanted to put me on statins. I refused due to all the anti-statin publicity and research I'd read. She has given me 3 months to lower my cholesterol through diet and supplements before she tests me again and reviews it. I now eat more nuts, salmon, seeds, and porridge. I take omega 3, garlic, artichoke and co-enzyme Q10 supplements to reduce cholesterol made by the liver. My activity levels are increasing too. Fingers crossed this works!

For those of you already taking statins, please take co-enzyme Q10 supplement. Read up about it first if you like, but it is an enzyme naturally produced in your body which is responsible for a lot of metabolic processes. Alas this naturally starts to deplete after age 40. Statins deplete it considerably more, resulting in a loss of muscle mass and strength. This can lead to weakness, tiredness and joint pain. It can even affect heart muscles, leading to strokes or worse. This is why statins seem to come with health warnings these days. Taking Q10 counteracts this, though GPs don't seem to tell you this.

I'll let you know how my next cholesterol test goes. :thumbup:

 

[borofergie]

I have a similar problem of low HBa1c (37 or 5.5) and increased cholesterol (6.3). I have been T2 for a year now and have lost 9 stone due to a low carb diet yet my cholesterol levels have increased steadily from 4.6 to 6.3. I eat hardly any fat, let alone saturated fats.

How can you eat low-fat and low-carbohydrate? Where are you getting your energy from?

 

[Juliette40]

I have a similar problem of low HBa1c (37 or 5.5) and increased cholesterol (6.3). I have been T2 for a year now and have lost 9 stone due to a low carb diet yet my cholesterol levels have increased steadily from 4.6 to 6.3. I eat hardly any fat, let alone saturated fats.

How can you eat low-fat and low-carbohydrate? Where are you getting your energy from?

Hi

Thanks for your kind concern. I am full of energy. I just avoid potatoes, pasta, rice and bread. I get all the energy I need from carbs found in fruit and veg. I don't eat processed foods any more except for dairy. I eat weight watchers fromage frais which is only 7g carbs as opposed to most low fat yoghurts at about 12g. I've always had skimmed milk. I eat no saturated fats...except on special occasions (parties) when it's fine to throw caution to the wind. I do make sure that I have a daily bowl of All Bran or porridge though. I've been on this diet for 13 months now and see it as a way of eating, rather than a faddy diet. I enjoy my food and find ways of making it interesting. I don't feel I miss out - I'm just pleased to be fit and healthy again...except for the cholesterol!

Cheers
Juliette x