Test Results

[gettingby]

Who understands the numbers for triglycerides, LDL, and total Cholesterol?
Here are my numbers and what they say is normal:
LDL: 123 (range 0-99)
HDL: 54 (range>39)
Triglycerides: 72 (range <150)
Total Cholesterol: 191 (range 0-200)
Are these numbers good? bad? what? Help me understand, Please.:hmmmm2:

[Cyborg]

The triglycerides, and HDL are good. The total cholesterol, because of the LDL is not great.

What about your A1c?

[koblenz]

Here are some numbers I found on the web:

LDL-Cholesterol level - "Bad" kind
<100 mg/dl --- Optimal
100-129 mg/dl --- Above Optimal
130-159 mg/dl --- Borderline High
160-189 mg/dl --- High
>190 mg/dl --- Very High

HDL - "Good" kind
Women with HDL levels under 45 mg/dl are at high risk, those with levels of 45-55 mg/dl are at borderline risk, and those with levels greater than 55 mg/dl are at low risk.

Triglycerides
Less than 150 --- Normal
150 - 199 --- Borderline high
200 - 499 --- High
500 or higher --- Very high

Total
Less than 200 --- Desirable
200 - 239 --- Borderline High
240 and above --- High

I don't know if these are the "latest" official recommendations...???

So I think you are doing pretty darn good there young lady. Keep up the good work! Maybe cut down on the sausage at breakfast! :D

[JediSkipdogg]

Being a diabetic your LDL should be less than 100. Higher than that puts you at an increased rick for heart disease and mainly a heart attack. Basically, you need to watch the fats you eat, especially the saturated fats.

[Cyborg]

Here are some numbers I found on the web:

LDL-Cholesterol level - "Bad" kind
<100 mg/dl --- Optimal
100-129 mg/dl --- Above Optimal
130-159 mg/dl --- Borderline High
160-189 mg/dl --- High
>190 mg/dl --- Very High

HDL - "Good" kind
Women with HDL levels under 45 mg/dl are at high risk, those with levels of 45-55 mg/dl are at borderline risk, and those with levels greater than 55 mg/dl are at low risk.

Triglycerides
Less than 150 --- Normal
150 - 199 --- Borderline high
200 - 499 --- High
500 or higher --- Very high

Total
Less than 200 --- Desirable
200 - 239 --- Borderline High
240 and above --- High

I don't know if these are the "latest" official recommendations...???

So I think you are doing pretty darn good there young lady. Keep up the good work! :D

Is this for diabetics or non-diabetics?

[koblenz]

Is this for diabetics or non-diabetics?
I got it off WebMD and the date of the page was June 2006. Didn't say specifcally diabetic or not. I looked at ADA website for numbers, but after searching for a few minutes, found nothing.

My endo personally told me he wants me to shoot for this...
Total Cho less than 180
LDL less than 100
HDL greater than 45
Triglycerides less than 100

My test from about 6 months ago was:
Total: 151
LDL: 94
HDL: 48
Triglycerides: 54

[BlueSky]

...... My test from about 6 months ago was:
Total: 151
LDL: 94
HDL: 48
Triglycerides: 54
Are you on a statin?

[Penny]

I got my test results in the mail today.
Total cholesterol 139
LDL.................. 29
HDL................. 52
Tryglycerides.... 286

I was really upset about the Tryglycerides, because I work so hard at it and the other numbers are pretty good. The CDE said she wasn't worried, as sometimes it is just heredity. I take zocor, and am very careful about fats and such, don't know what else to do.
Also had urine protein of 8....recommended less than 30, don't have any idea what that means. A1C was 7.1. They have a total goal of 29 and I am at 37, for me.....don't know what that means either, but that the only goals I haven't met are weight and Tryglycerides and I would like to have A1C of at least 6, but they say 7 is alright.

[Cyborg]

Are you on a statin?
Do it without statins... IMO

[Cyborg]

I got it off WebMD and the date of the page was June 2006. Didn't say specifcally diabetic or not. I looked at ADA website for numbers, but after searching for a few minutes, found nothing.

My endo personally told me he wants me to shoot for this...
Total Cho less than 180
LDL less than 100
HDL greater than 45
Triglycerides less than 100

My test from about 6 months ago was:
Total: 151
LDL: 94
HDL: 48
Triglycerides: 54

I know the guidelines for diabetics are more restrict than those for non-diabetics...

[koblenz]

Are you on a statin?
Yeah, I have the help of Lipitor.

[BlueSky]

I got my test results in the mail today.
Total cholesterol 139
LDL.................. 29
HDL................. 52
Tryglycerides.... 286

..... I take zocor .....
That LDL is dangerously low. For an outline of statin adverse effects, follow this link. http://medicine.ucsd.edu/SES/adverse_effects.htm.

[Cyborg]

That LDL is dangerously low. For an outline of statin adverse effects, follow this link. http://medicine.ucsd.edu/SES/adverse_effects.htm.

The lower the LDL the better, right?

[JediSkipdogg]

Studies have shown you can't have too low of an LDL level. The lower the better. They ahve also shown that the higher the HDL, the less chance for heart complications down the road.

However, the drugs used to lower those levels do have problems with them, which is why I don't want any of them.

[Cyborg]

Studies have shown you can't have too low of an LDL level. The lower the better. They ahve also shown that the higher the HDL, the less chance for heart complications down the road.

However, the drugs used to lower those levels do have problems with them, which is why I don't want any of them.


I agree. I'm scared of statins. In fact, I was asked to go on them and I refused. I now have good cholesterol now with diet changes alone.

[gettingby]

They won't put me on statins. I think it has to do with the fact that I have a slight heart murmur. :dontknow:

[Harold]

With diabetes, the LDL level is recomended to be below 70. At least that is what my doc is shooting for.

[Cyborg]

With diabetes, the LDL level is recomended to be below 70. At least that is what my doc is shooting for.


That's what my endo suggested also.

[Penny]

That LDL is dangerously low. For an outline of statin adverse effects, follow this link. http://medicine.ucsd.edu/SES/adverse_effects.htm.

I was told the LDL should be below 100. The HDL greater than 40.

[BlueSky]

Studies have shown you can't have too low of an LDL level. The lower the better. .......
I have seen reports of this too. But I really can't make sense of it. If cholesterol can't be low enough, why do you think the liver produces a gram of the stuff every day? And why do you think the liver sometimes produces enough cholesterol to increase serum levels?

There must be a logical reason. Our phisiology has evolved to the point where everything the body does is focused on a single outcome - to ensure our survival. Anything that didin't work has been bred out of the species through the process of natural selection. And a gene that makes us produce fatal amounts of cholesterol simply wouldn't have survived.

The suggestion that the body actively goes about destroying itself by producing cholesterol is extremely naive. I am amazed that cardiologists who actually graduated from college are taken in by this kind of simplistic nonsense. You don't even need to know what cholesterol is used for to be able to appreciate that there can be no justification for this specious arguement.

[Cyborg]

I have seen reports of this too. But I really can't make sense of it. If cholesterol can't be low enough, why do you think the liver produces a gram of the stuff every day?

Assuming that's the case, is it producing HDL or LDL cholesterol?

[BlueSky]

I have seen reports of this too. But I really can't make sense of it. If cholesterol can't be low enough, why do you think the liver produces a gram of the stuff every day?Assuming that's the case, is it producing HDL or LDL cholesterol?
There is only one kind of cholesterol. And the liver produces as much of it as signals from all over the body indicate. The liver also produces as much HDL and LDL lipoproteins as are required to transport the cholesterol. LDL takes cholesterol to where it is needed. HDL recycles it back to the liver. If cholesterol is high, a far more useful question is to ask why the body is demanding so much of it to be produced. High cholesterol suggests that something isn't right and needs to be fixed.

[JediSkipdogg]

I was told the LDL should be below 100. The HDL greater than 40.

That's what I was told too. If the level was 70, I woulda been on some drugs years ago. I haven't been below 70 since I can remember.

[BlueSky]

I was told the LDL should be below 100. The HDL greater than 40.
The NCEP guidelines keep changing. And there are now different "desirable" levels for people with different levels of risk. For people with no risk factors, an LDL of less than 160 is considered satisfactory. This comes down to 130 for people with "moderate risk". For people with multiple heart disease risk factors, LDL of <100 is desirable. But if you are in the "high risk" category, the LDL level needs to by <70. Having a history of heart disease and/or diabetes puts you in this category. So, if you want comply with these somewhat arbitrary gudelines, you need to get your LDL below 70. The guidelines also suggest that HDL needs to be over 45.

Here is a link to the guidelines on the Cleveland Clinic website. Scroll down to the table for a summary.

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/prevention/cholesterol/cholesterolguidelines9_01.htm

This is the "official position", which I think is madness! It is heavily sponsored by big pharma and is aimed at getting as many people as possible on statins. Which I will never use. My last LDL was 139 and I am perfectly happy with it! My body knows how much cholesterol it needs and I am not going to second-guess it. :wavey:

[dgrilli]

I was told that inflammation where it may be in the body has a direct influence on the total cholesterol. I have even read where arterial inflammation is nothing more than a good place for the cholesterol to collect at.

Was told also that there is a direct relationship to the total amount of Vitamin C in the blood and that cholesterol consumes vitamin c.

I read a book by a board certified cardiologist that Vitamin C would not only protect the arteries but reduce inflammation as well this book goes into so much details about this,

The book is called Stop America's # 1 Killer The Reversible Vitamin Deficiency Found to be the Origen of All Coronary Heart Disease By Doctor Thomas E. Levy, MD JD.

This book has so many References that they take up 1/4 of the whole book. There are 650 Scientific References.

This book slams the Pharma Industry so much it's a wonder why they would'nt try to shut him up. Maybe because there are very few individuals lucky enough to even know about the book let alone read it.

I would say this book is a must read and read over again again. I put it up there with Pumping Insulin 4th Edition.

[BlueSky]

I was told that inflammation where it may be in the body has a direct influence on the total cholesterol. I have even read where arterial inflammation is nothing more than a good place for the cholesterol to collect at.
.....
You hit the nail on the head there! The inflammation hypothesis is gaining support. But it continues to be rejected by big-pharma sponsored "mainstream" opinion leaders, for obvious commercial reasons. Problem is that you can't make money out of anti-oxidants and "therapeutic lifestyle changes".

Cholesterol is a marker for inflammation, heart disease and any other damage taking place in the body. Reducing it treats the symptom, not the cause. One would have thought that the experts should have been able to figure this out by now. :hmmmm2:

[dgrilli]

If your right BlueSky and Dr. Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD is right We could all stop atherosclerosis in it's tracks and reverse the damge caused.

The positive anti-atherosclerotic interactions between Vitamin C therapy and Lecithin therapy is quite significant.

You got to read his book. I wish everyone would read his book.

Can you imagine common cheap vitamins doing this? That statement alone would be enough to tigh your bank accounts up for a life time.

[Cyborg]

So we should continue to take our multi-vitamins, with Lecithin...