My Cholesterol Coreography

As a part of my recent physical, I had a fasting cholesterol test. I got the results last week. 

I'm going to share them with you. Transparency is the name of the game here on Carsick Caravan. I'm also going to share what MY doctor said about ME and MY situation. YOUR doctor may view things differently in YOUR situation. (Can you tell I'm a little leery about this? I don't want anyone thinking that I'm offering medical advice, nor do I want 1000 people to tell me why my doctor is wrong or whatever. I love my doctor. You and your doctor must make the best plan for you.) 

So, here they are: 

 

A quick internet research on what those numbers mean had me a little concerned. From what I could tell, my overall cholesterol number was HIGH! Substantially higher than it was in 1998 when I weighed so much more than I do now. The experts of the internet said anything over 190 is cause for concern.

What the hell?

Offsetting that, the breakdowns looked OK. 

• My HDL, or "good" cholesterol was high and it went up. 
• My LDL, or "bad" cholesterol, was at 155. Online resources had differing opinions of what that meant.   
• My Trigycerides, the way fat is stored in the body, were 73. A high trigycerides level has been linked to a higher risk of coronary artery disease and anything less than 150 is considered "normal." I fell safely under that. 

So, to get a bit more information, I messaged my doc. (Can I say how much I LOVE being able to message her? So convenient! Thank you Dean MyChart.) She calmed my fears. 

First, she said she doesn't really even look at the overall number. Yes, my 246 is higher than the 212 of 1998. But part of the reason it's higher is that my "good" HDL went up. So the increase wasn't all bad news. In fact, she said it's sort of hard to increase your HDL ... and the fact that mine went up was a testament to the work I have put in to lose weight and get healthier.

Secondly, she said old guidelines would indicate medication at 160 LDL. New guidelines say 180. But the new guidelines also have a "risk calculation" that is considered. The calculation measures the risk of a vascular event (heart attack/stroke) over the next 10 years. It factors in your cholesterol numbers, age, gender, ethnicity, smoking status, blood pressure and presence of diabetes. 

It does not consider family history because that is a secondary factor when compared with smoking, high blood pressure and diabetes. Good news for me because my family history says this could be a problem in my branch of the tree. 

All that rolled up to a calculated risk level for me of 0.79%. My doc says that if the risk level is 7.5% or higher, she'd recommend treatment.

Whew. No treatment required and while first blush worried me, I'm feeling much better now.

Am I still cutting back on a few things as a result? You can bet your bippy.