Help with cholesterol ratios.....

Tagging @bulkbiker our resident expert.

Hi @BibaBee
If it wasn't fasting then I'm afraid its pretty meaningless..I'm surprised they did a full lipid panel if he hadn't fasted beforehand.
The things I would usually look at would be the Triglyceride/HDL ratio but as the trigs can be artificially elevated by eating before the blood is taken then I'm afraid in this case no conclusions should be drawn.
If he doesn't want the dreaded statins then he is quite at liberty to listen to the GP but then decide not to have them. I would ask for another three months and then have another test done and this time fast for 10-14 hours beforehand.
My last total cholesterol was 6.3 but even my GP who called for that "statin" conversation didn't seem that fussed about it so in your husbands case make a big play about the weight loss and HbA1c improvement and then stall for time.
If you really want to freak the GP out the ask if your hubs can have a CAC scan which will show up any arterial plaque and is a far better indicator of future heart disease than "cholesterol" ( mainly because without cholesterol we'd all be dead!).

I have a detailed thread about why I don't think statins are a good idea for almost anyone.. it's here if you want to delve deeper.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/

BibaBee said:

Thank you @bulkbiker . You pretty much confirmed what I thought. Don't think I'd persuade him to have a scan.....he's terrified enough of any tests as it is!

Click to expand...

I would imagine though the doctor may never have heard of it.. so if you want to shut the doc up....part of my cunning plan!.

Hi, when I had my follow up from my annual review I asked for my cholesterol level and they only had one from 2016 which was 3.1. If it’s that low why do I need to take statins, it was never high to start with!

Sarah69 said:

Hi, when I had my follow up from my annual review I asked for my cholesterol level and they only had one from 2016 which was 3.1. If it’s that low why do I need to take statins, it was never high to start with!

Click to expand...

A total cholsterol of 3.1 is too low in my opinion, especially for a woman. I suggest you ask for a full lipid panel (HDL/LDL and triglycerides) and then make a decision on whether to stop your statins. As a diabetic you should be having cholesterol tests annually at the very least.

Bluetit1802 said:

A total cholsterol of 3.1 is too low in my opinion, especially for a woman. I suggest you ask for a full lipid panel (HDL/LDL and triglycerides) and then make a decision on whether to stop your statins. As a diabetic you should be having cholesterol tests annually at the very least.

Click to expand...

A full lipid panel is that another blood test? Well the dr I saw said the cholesterol test is done at my annual appt, but I had that around June time this year but the only result was from 2016!

Sarah69 said:

A full lipid panel is that another blood test? Well the dr I saw said the cholesterol test is done at my annual appt, but I had that around June time this year but the only result was from 2016!

Click to expand...

I suggest you chase the results up at your surgery. Sometimes people get just the standard Total Cholesterol and non HDL but this tells us nothing. What we should have is Total Cholesterol, non HDL, LDL, HDL and Triglycerides with the ratio of HDL to Triglycerides level. They do this lipid panel from the same blood draw they use to find HbA1c and all the other numbers (liver, kidney function etc etc).

Guzzler said:

I suggest you chase the results up at your surgery. Sometimes people get just the standard Total Cholesterol and non HDL but this tells us nothing. What we should have is Total Cholesterol, non HDL, LDL, HDL and Triglycerides with the ratio of HDL to Triglycerides level. They do this lipid panel from the same blood draw they use to find HbA1c and all the other numbers (liver, kidney function etc etc).

Click to expand...

I will try and get this break down at my surgery but I’ve tried to get an hba1c from there before and they’ve told me they don’t have access to the hospital records, as this is where I go for all my diabetes check ups. I don’t get told told about any other tests they do with my blood so I just assume everything is ok.

My mum goes to the same hospital clinic and she doesn’t get told her cholesterol level either!

Sarah69 said:

I will try and get this break down at my surgery but I’ve tried to get an hba1c from there before and they’ve told me they don’t have access to the hospital records, as this is where I go for all my diabetes check ups. I don’t get told told about any other tests they do with my blood so I just assume everything is ok.

My mum goes to the same hospital clinic and she doesn’t get told her cholesterol level either!

Click to expand...

The government has stated that patients have a right to see blood test results so if you get no joy at your surgery I would try asking for the phone number of the Practice Manager. Your results should have forwarded from the hospital to your GP. Good Luck.

DCUKMod said:

Just in addition, I find this calculator to be very helpful for a quick analysis: http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php
.

Click to expand...

Nice post DCUK, most illuminating.

edit;
my APOLOGIES, dcuk..that is way more then just a nice post..THAT is cracking information.

Spent a good bit hunting down all my blood stats,..not only does it match up, but it indicates whether level are normal, borderline or heading into unsafe waters.

Exactly what i was looking for in a previous post.

Highly recommended site.

Many thanks for posting up.,

Biba bee.

if i am not out of turn, i'd use that DCUK posted site and input your husbands numbers.
it might make a tad more sense, once you see results.