High cholesterol again

[Philb69]

Hi all

Just had latest bloods done for my 6 monthly hba1c check and although my hba1c is 35 mmol it has picked up once again that i have high cholesterol. I know they are again going to try and talk me in to statins. Could anybody advise with this as on a cholesterol calculator it seems fine.

Thank you
Phil

 

[lindisfel]

I would be happy with those figures, Your HDL is high and your Trigs are low. You should not have any of the harmful small dense LDL that damages ones cardio vascular system!
According to cardiologist Aseem Malhotra statins can help after a heart attack but if you haven't had a heart attack statins won't make you live one day longer.
What would worry me is that statins have been linked to motor neurone disease!
See Malcolm Kendricks blog.

Statins just work to reduce LDL.
regards
Derek

 

[eggs11]

Yep - your HDL to trigs ratio is excellent - which I've read is what matters.

 

[Guzzler]

If your GP mentions it quote the figures for HDL over Trigs and watch him/her squirm.

 

[Philb69]

Thanks all. I will show them the same screenshot i posted but i reckon they will just look at the 6.4 cholesterol level then start badgering me to take more drugs (statins)
Thanks again for reassuring me

Phil

 

[bulkbiker]

Thanks all. I will show them the same screenshot i posted but i reckon they will just look at the 6.4 cholesterol level then start badgering me to take more drugs (statins)
Thanks again for reassuring me

Phil

If you are comfortable with the numbers (and I would be very happy with them) then firmly say "I do not wish to be prescribed statins thank you very much".

 

[Philb69]

If you are comfortable with the numbers (and I would be very happy with them) then firmly say "I do not wish to be prescribed statins thank you very much".

Bulkbiker

you have given me sound advice before so I will do just that.

Phil

 

[NicoleC1971]

Bulkbiker

you have given me sound advice before so I will do just that.

Phil

I was badgered to take statins too despite great ratios and have consistently refused them but I think there is just a tick box type trigger to offer them at a certain level of total cholesterol. Once I had refused them politely, some note was made somewhere and the question has never been raised again! Remember that you ldl is only a problem in the xontext of a pro-inflamtory diet (high carb junk food) and this would show up as a high trigs reading with low hdl which you don't have. If you take a statin you are statistically unlikely to see any benefit unless you have diagnosed heart disease, and may suffer side effects. Good luck with that conversation!

 

[bulkbiker]

Bulkbiker

you have given me sound advice before so I will do just that.

Phil

If you haven't seen this then it's well worth an hour of your time... and maybe take the link to your doctors too!

Edit to add it may have been posted before but I have just seen it for the first time ... astounding..

 

[Daibell]

Hi. I think you know the answer. Go by the ratios and not the total. The total is a number effectively plucked out of the Ether by NICE and not based on good science. There is much better understanding recently of the relevance of appropriate numbers for the lipids breakdown and not the Total.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

i reckon they will just look at the 6.4 cholesterol level then start badgering me to take more drugs (statins)

At the end of the day nobody can force you to take anything. Statins don't affect everybody the same way and maybe it's worth trying them but if you experience any aches and pains or brain fog, that's when to politely tell the GP where to put his statins (in the bin) LOL I put up with them for 17 years and tolerated the BS that my old GP kept giving me over the years, a new excuse every year. Thankfully my low carb regime brought my total cholesterol right down and made my decision to stop taking statins much easier. The interesting thing about my total cholesterol is that it can be 5.7 one day and only 4, 3 months later.

 

[bulkbiker]

The interesting thing about my total cholesterol is that it can be 5.7 one day and only 4, 3 months later.

I think if we had a way of measuring it at home we would find it as volatile as blood sugar. Varying each day within a surprisingly large range. I did find a study from the 50's where they measured total cholesterol every hour in various people and they had swings of up to I think 5 mmol per day although my memory could be wrong there.. I'll try and find it again.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

I'll try and find it again.

This might be interesting: http://cholesterolcode.com/infographic-of-prediction-experiment/ Anecdotal but it would be interesting to see how quickly one could change cholesterol readings. This guy reckons three days. Can you imagine the problems that would cause GPs if everyone dropped their cholesterol, just for their blood test.

 

[JohnEGreen]

I think if we had a way of measuring it at home we would find it as volatile as blood sugar. Varying each day within a surprisingly large range. I did find a study from the 50's where they measured total cholesterol every hour in various people and they had swings of up to I think 5 mmol per day although my memory could be wrong there.. I'll try and find it again.

There is the Prima 3 in 1 Monitor which has strips for blood Glucose, Cholesterol and triglycerides from Home Health UK

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/3-in-1-cholesterol-triglycerides-and-blood-glucose-monitor

 

[Indy51]

Worthwhile inputting your figures into Dave Feldman's remnant cholesterol report - maybe try giving a print out to your doc if the subject of statins get raised again:

http://cholesterolcode.com/report/

 

[bulkbiker]

There is the Prima 3 in 1 Monitor which has strips for blood Glucose, Cholesterol and triglycerides from Home Health UK

https://homehealth-uk.com/all-products/3-in-1-cholesterol-triglycerides-and-blood-glucose-monitor

Hmm not exactly cheap though at £2 per test strip..especially if you wanted to do multiple times a day still might be worth it for a few days just to test out the theory.

 

[JohnEGreen]

Hmm not exactly cheap though at £2 per test strip..especially if you wanted to do multiple times a day still might be worth it for a few days just to test out the theory.

But no more expensive than ketone strips for a libre.

 

[bulkbiker]

But no more expensive than ketone strips for a libre.

That's why I use the Care Sens Dual..

 

[JohnEGreen]

That's why I use the Care Sens Dual..

Same here.

 

[millenium]

I am just comparing two sets of cholesterol readings on my father, 1) one year ago (at the time of measurement he has just gone totally off atorvastatin 40mg to 20mg to 10mg to 0mg in about two weeks) and 2) a few days ago (no statin for a year). I notice total cholesterol and ldl were lower by 45% and 60% respectively a year ago. The body weight of my father in the two instances were same at 63.5-64kg.