A quick check of a website suggests these numbers are pretty danged good. I know there are some knowledgeable folk on this board on this topic... am I going to die?
I eat fatty foods, try not to overindulge on sugar and starch, drink more than is healthy, eat junk food and exercise only by climbing and hiking. I live on the road and eat all sorts of food from junk to French Death to sushi, on a regular basis.
I never bought into the low-fat dietary regime - it made no sense and given my numbers continues to make no sense. Eating fat doesn't make you fat (sugar, does). But I have worried about ldl - this seems to suggest I don't need to worry much in that regard?
Just don't tell me I have to stop drinking... its all I've got left! :-)
You and I are in the same ballpark. My doctor said that they pay less attention to the overall numbers and more to the individual ones these days. I'm with your thinking. Some of us are wired differently. One size does not fit all. I think you are doing fine, but what do I know. :-)
You're doing okay. Wish my triglycerides were that low and I'm on crestor.
Cholesterol Guidelines
National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) guidelines recommend that all adults over age 20 have a cholesterol test at least once every 5 years. Take a look at the guidelines below to get a better idea of where your cholesterol levels should be.
Total cholesterol level
Less than 200 mg/dL Desirable
200-239 mg/dL Borderline high
240 mg/dL or higher High
Total cholesterol is based on your LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol counts. Generally, a lower cholesterol level is better.
LDL
Less than 100 mg/dL Optimal
100-129 mg/dL Optimal/borderline high
130-159 mg/dL Borderline high
160-189 mg/dL High
190 mg/dL or higher Very high
LDL is considered the “bad” cholesterol because if you have too much LDL in your bloodstream, it can lead to the buildup of plaque in your arteries over time, known as atherosclerosis. Generally a lower LDL cholesterol level is better.
HDL
60 mg/dL or higher High
Less than 40 mg/dL Low
HDL is considered the "good" cholesterol because it helps return cholesterol to the liver, where it can be eliminated from the body. Generally, a higher HDL cholesterol level is better.
Triglycerides
Less than 150 mg/dL Normal
150-199 mg/dL Borderline high
200-499 mg/dL High
500 mg/dL or higher Very high
Triglycerides, like cholesterol, are another substance that can be dangerous to your health. Like LDL, you want to keep your triglycerides low.
Source: National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)
So is an hdl number higher than the provided range even better then?
Example: Would an hdl of 80 be GREAT? (normal range: 40 -60) 100 even better still?
.....
"Researchers found that 54.6 percent of patients had HDL levels below 40 mg/dL. Developing more effective treatments to boost HDL levels may help reduce the number of patients hospitalized for heart attacks, according to the authors."
I've tried several things now over several blood draws to get my hdl up. Nothing seems to work. Stuck at 38 or so.
I try to see the silver lining. If I do have an "event" I'll probably be doing something aerobic - like a hard lead in the sierra. Also, I won't be posting here anymore.
Athletes who abuse testosterone and other androgenic steroids have a sharply increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. And in high doses, testosterone can have a negative effect on cardiac risk factors, including HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels.
HFCS, supposedly, higher HDL numbers are better. But, there are are several populations in the world with very low HDL numbers who have very few heart attacks, such as the traditional Okinawan, rural chinese, etc.
I've also read that using drugs to raise hdl or lower ldl and total cholesterol have little effect on total mortality. They make your numbers look better, but the end result is not as good.
Believe I read or heard some where that 30% of sudden death from MI or heart attack occurs in individuals that had Cholesterol and blood pressure within normal limits. Is that true?
As some have pointed out above. there is a lot more to the story than just those four numbers. There are many other measurements that can be done. If you're concerned, check out The Berkeley Heartlab.
One of the great mysteries of cardiology is the fact that 50% of people with coronary artery disease have blood cholesterol levels similar to those of people who do not develop the disease. In fact, a recently published study of over 17,000 people with low LDL cholesterol levels showed that a surprising number of them still developed heart disease. In other words, the majority of people at risk of having a heart attack may be unaware of this risk and may not be taking appropriate preventative action. The stories of people surprised by sudden heart attacks are becoming more common and it is perplexing that these patients had not been identified as at risk for heart disease. Obviously, today's routine cholesterol tests are failing to identify the majority of people who are at risk for heart attacks. The limited focus of these tests on "good" and "bad" cholesterol is simply not good enough when it comes to identifying individuals at risk.
Interestingly, further evidence of how best-practice procedures in medicine are prone to change; it is now no longer considered necessary to fast before having lipid measurement done.
this is driving me crazy. i got high levels two years ago, the first time in my life. i've been trying to bring it down, and i can't. they want me to take their drugs, whatzzimacallem. i take fish oil, krill oil, not bringing it down. i eat well, exercise perhaps not quite enough but not too bad, no junk food, mostly red wine in the drinks department. i figure it's a product of aging. when i was a young buck like you, dingus, i had those numbers to be proud of.
so the half-educated nurse who administers cases like this says there's a nine percent chance of having a major cardiac event in the next ten years. i'm now 65, and most males in my family, both sides, have had these cardiac events by the time they're 75, at which adios amigos. so, doing the math, all other things being equal, i have a 73 percent chance of reaching age 95, no?
One thing that can whack out cholesterol levels is thyroid problems. At the time I was diagnosed as hypothyroid, my cholesterol was above 300 (way more than it had ever been or has been since starting synthetic thyroid hormone).
Tony, try green tea. My sister and cousin's husband swear by it.
I think cholesterol levels are a function of genes. I know a gal who lives on oatmeal, veggies and fruit. Here levels are high 300s. I'm a bacon snackin' fool, and in the mid 100s.
Yer gonna die. But, I also eat junk food exclusively and have low cholesterol levels and we're probably about the same age. If you climb regularly you're in better shape than 99% of your neighbors. That's what I attribute my good health to.
Stress is a much bigger factor, both external and, in particular, self-imposed. Self-imposed stress is a function of personality type, such as perfectionism, narcissism, and repressed rage. If you combine those three with constantly drinking alcohol, you're looking for health problems sooner or later.
If are over 50, and you dont take cholesterol medicine, and you've never had a heart attack or stroke, and you dont have diabetes, then you probably dont need to check those ever again (at least not until you have a heart attack or stroke or get diabetes).
But ALL were in the REAL BAD to "Yer GONNA die" levels...
With medication, super BIG TIME diet change, and "If you climb regularly you're in better shape than 99% of your neighbors. That's what I attribute my good health to.", I have gotten the numbers into a reasonably stable and GUD area...
Like the quote above, I too believe that the CLIMBING plays a VERY large roll in my health improving (feels sort of funny to write that right now, because I am once again feeling somewhat poorly, losing weight for unknown reasons, and generally OFF)...
You don't EVEN want to hear my stats/life chol. story.
When I was my first year of college and use to surf everyday (did a lot of swimming in big surf also since this was before goon-cords/leashes) my biology teacher use to have us take our vitals every time at the start of class. My average resting heartbeat was 48 bpm. She asked me if I was a marathon runner, lol!
So, I always thought i was in tip-top shape. But, when I was 29 and still very active, I had my first cholesterol fasting blood test. The Doc freaked! His exact words, "If you don't do something about your cholesterol your gonna be dead in 2-3 years! WTF!!!
So I went on a diet. No meat, dairy product, etc! Figured i was good to go. Fast forward to about 10 years later. I get my 2nd chol test. Exact same response from the Doc! WTF!!!
At that point I was in the best shape of my life. I was riding my road bike 50+ miles 3 x week! Climbing, aerobics, running, etc! I couldn't believe it. I just wrote it off as a fluke. He said if it didn't change after one month of a strict diet and exc. that he put me on that he was going to put me on cholesterol meds! I was already on a similar diet, etc, but he insisted, and as it worked out, I never went back in.
Fast forward to 1999 (10 years later). Major heart attack, surgery, etc! It turned out that I have extremely high triglycerides ... like 1700-1800!!!
So they put me on this drug Tricor! It did the trick (you take it in combination with another cholesterol drug/lipitor) anyway, everything was fine for about 2 years ... until I became deathly ill and get diagnosed as having a terminal illness/peripheral nerve disease by Kaisers top docs! GREAT. A WICKED illness (i have already talked about it here on ST). Lose everything I had (A LOT). House worth well over 500K, bank account/savings of nearly 200K, job, etc. (I'm an OTR and was making 100K+ a year) and what I didn't lose/spend i gave away CUZ i was F'n dying!
Well, as you prolie already know because I have already sprayed about it multiple times here on ST, I left Kaiser bcuz I could no longer afford the $1500.00 a month it was costing me for meds & services, etc! And got this lady doc & after a year of her persistent probing into my sickness found out it was a toxic and would have eventually been fatal reaction to the damn Tricor/cholesterol meds. F'n TERRIFIC! pLUS THAT IS THE ONLY MED THAT WILL LOWER MY TRIGYCERIDES. SHEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
Long story short (well kinda late for that ^^^, lol) I am now back (for the last 4 years) with a Triglyceride level thats going through the roof (averages 1600-1800). They say its gonna be sayonara before too long. WUDEVAH!!!
BTW, after my surgery, I was put into a special group for follow-up. There were 7 of us. My doc did not pull any punches. He informed us just before he left, after giving us a strict diet and exercise program to follow, with this statement, "By the way, three (3) of you will not be returning here to our next meeting!" And then he turns and walks away. YIKES!
We new exactly what he was telling us, because he had just told us all how important it was to NOT miss our next meeting with him (one month later). The nurse practioner took over after he left, and I noticed that NO ONE made eye contact with anyone else after he left. There was only seven (7) of us and only four (4) were gonna live to see the next meeting one (1) month away. Sheeeesh!
Well, sure enough, only four of us were at that next meeting! I recall the youngest of us, a 42 year old dood, was one of the ones who didn't make it. We all had the same genetic blood condition. So is life, eh?
Six months later, at my last personal meeting with my cardiologist/surgeon, after he left, the nurse practioner told me that he was VERY happy with my progress so far, and that I was one of the three (3) that he did not expect to return. In fact, she said that I was at the top of the list!
you're also a babe, lolli. babes generally live 10 years longer than dudes. there's probably a reason for that, which i don't think has been well thought-out yet.
Smashing, actually. I was out too late last night, or not late enough maybe. Anyway, bit of a 'head' on this morning, sipping some English tea with milk in it for krystsake! Maybe I should pop an aspirin or something. Nothing crippling mind you, just a bit of a frown.
Weather is here - on the Pacific coast of America the winter storms come in like big waves. This is the first real winter storm we've had in my opinion. Steady rain, snow in the mountains but with high snow levels, around 7000 feet. This is a 'warm storm' and its in the mid-50s here and was so over night.
Gonna grab my girls today and go... I know, we'll do something fabulous - I'll take them shoe shopping. I promised Kate a pair of boots and it finally feels like fall here.
As soon as the storm passes, though?
Fog. Its coming back. It fills me with the same dread and for the same reason, as a late night middle seat red eye flight in the cheap seats in the back of some chicken wire airline.
I dread the fog. Everything is gray and a pervasive cold seeps into every layer of clothing.
I'd go find the sun today if I could but there won't be no sun today. So I might as well earn daughter points. Hah!
hey i had that in mind and you really brightened me there. It's now dark here in LJ.
I hope those boots are made for walkin, and that's what they are gonna do
doom doom doom doom (walking bass).
well ya i guess i jes wanned to talk about myself a bit: this morning we went tooling again. I didn't send anything, but worked (TR) a new D6 line. That's the third 6 I'm on, and I must say that this 6th grade is quite extended. In this case, you really got to get those upside-down tool positions straight, on horizontal cracks, for instance when it comes to seriously lying back the moves on the traverse. But what's cool at this crag is that you mainly drop off far away enough from the rock.
-first time mono-pointing today (brand new lynxes!), but still using the quarks and the ol' nepal Xtreme.
even copied this from an other post I just wrote
Have a great day!
Borut
Seriously, I heard that cholesterol needs to be checked out over a longer period of time. Myself just try to forget about what I shouldn't eat and concentrate on what I should eat.
There are two types of LDL - one is called "fluffy" LDL, and one is "dense" LDL. If these terms are starting to make about as much sense as "Dark India Pale Ale," then you are paying attention.
Anyway, there is more research to come in this area. As others have pointed out, some things (like real heart attack numbers) are not always jiving with these cholesterol numbers. The fluffy LDL may in fact not be bad at all for you, and instead be good. Yet if you have high amounts of this, it will look like you're ready for CPR.
My LDLs are crazy high. But my triglydes are 50. Go figure. Time to have a DIPA.
Let us know!