Guest guest Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 I received a voicemail from a pt stating that her physician just told her that her serum cholesterol level is too low. The pt's message stated that her total cholesterol is only 87. I still need to find out her breakdown of HDL, LDL, triglycerides, etc and find out more information from this pt. However, the physician told this pt to start eating higher fat and cholesterol foods to increase her cholesterol levels, which is not the norm to recommend for gastric bypass pts (as we are all aware) and gave her no further guidance. This pt is approximately 4 months post-op gastric bypass. I am looking into other possibilities for the very low cholesterol levels and am curious as to the accuracy of this low level. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Just looking at a general lab text book indicates several reasons why cholesterol can be low...including malabsorption syndrome and malnutrition, hyperthyroidism, some medications etc. I think eating higher fat foods and cholesterol was a fairly irresponsible thing for a physician to suggest and further investigation would have been a better route!! I suggest you do a thorough diet history and nutrition assessment, review medications, labs (maybe have your sugeon order comprehensive labs if not available or ask her to get her labs from her physician) and if anything maybe she needs to increase overall calories or some macro-nutrients but that can not be determined without a thorough assessment. Hope that this helps. -----Original Message-----From: [mailto: ]On Behalf Of jburnsrd2002Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2005 8:45 AM Subject: Low serum cholesterolI received a voicemail from a pt stating that her physician just told her that her serum cholesterol level is too low. The pt's message stated that her total cholesterol is only 87. I still need to findout her breakdown of HDL, LDL, triglycerides, etc and find out more information from this pt. However, the physician told this pt tostart eating higher fat and cholesterol foods to increase her cholesterol levels, which is not the norm to recommend for gastric bypass pts (as we are all aware) and gave her no further guidance. This pt is approximately 4 months post-op gastric bypass. I amlooking into other possibilities for the very low cholesterol levels and am curious as to the accuracy of this low level. Any thoughts? IMPORTANT NOTICE: This communication, including any attachment, contains information that may be confidential or privileged, and is intended solely for the entity or individual to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you should contact the sender and delete the message. Any unauthorized disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message is strictly prohibited. Nothing in this email, including any attachment, is intended to be a legally binding signature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Low cholesterol (generally under 100) is an indication of malnutrition. If it were me, I would want to see their other labs such as a pre albumin, lymphocyt count, and a CBC. With those labs and a good review of their food journal you will probably be able to pinpoint and correct some of her problems. Sounds like a very unenlightened physician. J. Sams MS RD/LD >From: " jburnsrd2002 " <jpburns2002@...> >Reply- > >Subject: Low serum cholesterol >Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 15:44:36 -0000 > > >I received a voicemail from a pt stating that her physician just told >her that her serum cholesterol level is too low. The pt's message >stated that her total cholesterol is only 87. I still need to find >out her breakdown of HDL, LDL, triglycerides, etc and find out more >information from this pt. However, the physician told this pt to >start eating higher fat and cholesterol foods to increase her >cholesterol levels, which is not the norm to recommend for gastric >bypass pts (as we are all aware) and gave her no further guidance. >This pt is approximately 4 months post-op gastric bypass. I am >looking >into other possibilities for the very low cholesterol levels and am >curious as to the accuracy of this low level. Any thoughts? > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 Re the low-cholesterol - I would first find out what the pre- surgery cholesterol was. There's a difference between having a low-cholesterol normally and having it drop precipitously. Some very obese people have very low cholesterols. 87 is uncommon but it's not unheard of. She could have started at 120. I would also take another cholesterol to see if there was a lab error. cathy Nonas North General Hospital NYC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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