Old people (and healthcare professionals): WTF do my cholesterol numbers mean?

[Ns1]

seriously how do I interpret this shit? Does this basically mean, eat less red meat + sugars and exercise more? Do I need to talk to my doc about meds, or not yet?

Cholesterol: 226
HDL: 57
LDL: 154
Triglycerides: 76

 

[Chaotic42]

I'm not a professional, but my guess is that your doctor won't put you on meds. That should be controllable by diet and exercise. As an example of what bad numbers look like, my triglycerides were over 800 last year and my HDL was under 10.

 

[mike8675309]

Your cholesterol is high, particularly your LDL. Increasing exercise can help bring that down, as can changing your diet. Do both and it'll change faster.
Eat more fresh fruits, vegetables and grains and reduce your intake of foods with saturated fat like steak, chicken, pork, eggs, dairy. Cut back on processed foods to help with your triglycerides and cutting out or back on fast food will also reduce your saturated fat intake.
You didn't mention your weight, but reducing weight can help if you are overweight. Have you had your glucose or A1C checked?

 

[StinkyPinky]

First reading should really be under 200, although 226 is not an immediate risk. But work on getting is below 200. HDL is ok. LDL is high though, need to get that down to 100. Your trigycerides is good and well within range.

 

[mike8675309]

First reading should really be under 200, although 226 is not an immediate risk. But work on getting is below 200. HDL is ok. LDL is high though, need to get that down to 100. Your trigycerides is good and well within range.

While under 200 is better than over 200, studies have found that up to 35% of the people in the range of 150 to 200 will have a heart attack. Yet get your total cholesterol below 150 your chance is less than 1%. Almost heart attack proof. And that is important because heart disease and attacks are the #1 killer of men in America.

 

[hightree]

Officially, your total and LDL cholesterol are "borderline high."
http://www.nutrientsreview.com/lipids/cholesterol.html#tests

The following can help you decrease total and LDL cholesterol:
- Losing weight (if overweight)
- Lower intake of saturated fat (red meat, cheese), trans fat (fast foods) and possibly cholesterol (egg yolks, shrimps, liver and other organ meats) and higher intake of polyunsaturated fat (fish)
- Regular physical activity (walking or whatever)

 

[Pantlegz]

While under 200 is better than over 200, studies have found that up to 35% of the people in the range of 150 to 200 will have a heart attack. Yet get your total cholesterol below 150 your chance is less than 1%. Almost heart attack proof. And that is important because heart disease and attacks are the #1 killer of men in America.

I'm curious to see these studies. From everything I've seen there is evidence that cholesterol causes heart issues, there is a correlation but not causation.

Officially, your total and LDL cholesterol are "borderline high."
http://www.nutrientsreview.com/lipids/cholesterol.html#tests

The following can help you decrease total and LDL cholesterol:
- Losing weight (if overweight)
- Lower intake of saturated fat (red meat, cheese), trans fat (fast foods) and possibly cholesterol (egg yolks, shrimps, liver and other organ meats) and higher intake of polyunsaturated fat (fish)
- Regular physical activity (walking or whatever)

And Saturated Fats also haven't been proven to cause issues: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1846638

 

[mike8675309]

I'm curious to see these studies. From everything I've seen there is evidence that cholesterol causes heart issues, there is a correlation but not causation.

The most common form of Heart Disease and the one that kills us is atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the thickening of the artery walls. If you don't believe that excess blood cholesterol can thicken artery walls, something backed by science since the 60's then I won't convince you regardless of the studies presented. I am aware that there are studies that attempt to dispute these facts, as well as finding flaws with earlier studies, but the anecdotal evidence is too powerful in my mind to ignore. And the downsides of shooting for a total cholesterol number under 150 through lifestyle changes have absolutely no negative health impact.

And Saturated Fats also haven't been proven to cause issues: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1846638

Again, saturated fats have been shown to have negative total cholesterol impacts for years in both randomized controlled clinical trials as well as metabolic ward experiments. If you do not believe that or the science, then there is nothing I can do.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7019459
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2125600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/313701

Also note that meta analysis like the study you referenced have been called out as drawing improper conclusions since 2014 when the first of it's type was published. This from Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutrit...-heart-disease-study-is-seriously-misleading/

The industries that support the generation of dietary foods which contain high cholesterol and saturated fat have a motive to ensure that there are other scientists saying the opposite things even if the science is bad or in-conclusive. They simply need to create confusion in the marketplace. Because as long as there is confusion, people are unlikely to change their dietary habits. And eating lots of eats, meat, cheese, and drinking lots of milk is what industry wants us to do regardless of the damage it does to the environment or ourselves.

 

[master_shake_]

maybe start making a list of people to give your stuff to.

i'm sorry.

 

[hightree]

And Saturated Fats also haven't been proven to cause issues: http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1846638

Pantlegz, high intake of saturated fats in combination with low intake of polyunsaturated fats increases blood LDL cholesterol levels. Here's a graph that shows the effect of saturated, mono- and polyunsaturated and trans fats on LDL cholesterol levels. So, if someone wants to decrease LDL cholesterol (just this), a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol may help.

I agree this does not automatically mean that saturated fats increase the risk of heart disease. You linked to one meta analysis. Besides that, there are several systematic reviews in which authors do not see the cause-effect between saturated fats and heart disease, and several other systematic reviews in which authors do see such effect. So, at this point--at least for me--it is not possible to make any firm conclusion.

On the other hand if someone is concerned about high blood cholesterol, it is still reasonable to try to lower it.