Re: My mom's total cholesterol - 315

[Guest guest]

> Is this something I should be concerned about? I am asking her to go

> get a more detailed cholesterol test, but she is not willing.

>

> I know high cholesterol is not supposed to mean much, but I wonder

> at what degree it starts to matter.

Hi love,

Some docs start to panic if our total number gets over 200. She needs to have

her total

cholesterol numbers checked. I ate low fat for years, and kept my total number

at 124 or

so. It was during this time that I lost my health, sigh. Last summer, when I

added fats

back into my diet my total number went to 347!!! See below:

Total Cholesterol 347 ( < 200)

Triglycerides 42 ( < 150)

HDL Cholesterol 92 ( > 39)

Chol/HDL Ratio 3.8 ( < 5.0)

LDL Cholesterol 246 ( < 130)

LDL/HDL Ratio 2.68 ( < 3.25)

VLDL, calculated 8 ( < 30)

Now, the only number that is really " bad " above is the LDL (bad) cholesterol. I

had my

blood work done again in December, still eating the high fat foods, and you can

see the

numbers getting even better over time:

Total Cholesterol 291 (< 200)

Triglycerides 38 (< 150)

HDL Cholesterol 99 (> 39)

Chol/HDL Ratio 2.9 (< 5.0)

LDL Cholesterol 184 (< 130)

LDL/HDL Ratio 1.86 (< 3.25)

VLDL calculated 8 (< 30)

So.......you can see that your Mom really needs to have her ratio values

checked. And not

for her to just go by the " total " number. I believe that by this summer my

total cholesterol

will be below 200, and my LDL will be below 130.

HTH,

'

[Guest guest]

On Wednesday, February 2, 2005, at 10:28 PM, reborn1000 wrote:

> Now, the only number that is really " bad " above is the LDL (bad)

> cholesterol.  I had my

> blood work done again in December, still eating the high fat foods,

> and you can see the

> numbers getting even better over time:

>

>

But are you eating good fats? Such as coconut oil, olive oil, nuts and

such?

Sandy

[Guest guest]

Hi Sandy,

> > Now, the only number that is really " bad " above is the LDL (bad)

> > cholesterol.  I had my

> > blood work done again in December, still eating the high fat foods,

> > and you can see the

> > numbers getting even better over time:

> >

> >

>

> But are you eating good fats? Such as coconut oil, olive oil, nuts and

> such?

> Sandy

Yes, I am. I started eating nothing but good fats (no bad ones) since last

June. BUT, for

some folks (I found this out on an Atkins forum, lol) when they go to a " good

fat " diet,

they can get a " temporary " high cholesterol reading. Then, after about 6 months

it begins

to go back down. You can see that my bad cholesterol IS going down, and my good

is

going up. And all my ratios look great. I really believe that the next time I

get my

cholesterol taken the numbers will even be better. :-)

'

[Guest guest]

>What do you guys think?

>

>-Pratick

>

I think older women sometimes get high cholesterol as a normal part of

aging.

http://www.westonaprice.org/knowyourfats/fats_phony.html

" In his book /The Cholesterol Myths/, Dr. Uffe Ravnskov tells us what

happens to an older woman who has normal high serum cholesterol levels.

When her blood is tested in a forced cholesterol checkup, the

cholesterol myth is used to justify treatment of her nonexistent disease

state and she loses her vibrant state of good health. "

In fact, it would be wise to read Dr. Ravnskov's book, or at least

browse his site for more information on these cholesterol myths:

http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

Deanna

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

> Also, is LDL really the " bad " cholesterol as it is made out to be?

> Bad in what way?

>

> If serum cholesterol levels do not cause heart disease, then what is it bad

for?

>

> It seems to me that high serum cholesterol levels simply indicate that your

liver is in

> an overdrive mode and producing more cholesterol.

> This can usually be an indicator of high levels of free radicals and other

cell damaging

> compounds in the blood, and the body is producing more cholesterol to protect

against

all that.

>

> So you the question should be *why* are there higher than normal free radicals

in the

> body - some of the common causes are consumption of vegetable oils,

hydrogenated

oils,

> commercially cured meats with nitrates, refined sugar, and so on.

>

> What do you guys think?

I totally AGREE with your thoughts here. I was on an extremely LOW FAT diet for

years

before last June. What did I " earn " for those faithful years of listening to

the lies about low

fat? I earned hashimoto's thyroiditis, osteopenia, more allergies, gray hair,

CFS, arthritis,

etc. ARGHHHHHHHH So, last June, after surfing the net and seeing the Truth

about good

fats, etc, I totally changed my diet around for the better. Personally, I think

that the

" shock " of getting good fats into my body is why I've had that " temporary " spike

in

cholesterol that many Atkins folks also experience. Perhaps, like you say, our

happy liver

is now able to really DEAL with the free radicals, and other cell damaging

compounds in

our body that have been there from poor nutrition in the past. AND remember

that I just

started eating RAW (in any form) about 7 days ago. Even though I was having

good fats,

they were STILL " processed " ones. Now that I'm using raw dairy I really believe

that I'll see

an even larger improvement in my health, and in my cholesterol numbers. Not

that I care

what my numbers are, but it IS interesting to look at, lol.

By the way, I don't know why the " bad " cholesterol is called bad.

'

[Guest guest]

> My mom's total cholesterol - 315

>

>

>

>

>She doesn't have the breakdown as to what her DHL is or her

>triglyceride, but her total seems really high to me. (She hadn't

>been to a doctor in something like over 20 years and because she had

>a stomach flu and everyone was worried, she decided to go to a

>doctor just to ease everyone's mind, I guess. The doctor prescribed

>something to aid her digestion only but he decided to run a basic

>panel to make sure that nothing was out of wack since he had no

>history with her. (According to my mom, the doctor told her

>everything else looked pretty normal except her blood sugar was

>slighly elevated and her white blood count was high, but I think

>these probably attribute to her being ill with a stomach virus.)

>

>She is 76 and she doesn't eat a lot of unhealthy food (processed) to

>start with. She eats a fairly healthy diet. (She is Japanese, living

>in Japan.)

>

>Is this something I should be concerned about? I am asking her to go

>get a more detailed cholesterol test, but she is not willing.

>

>I know high cholesterol is not supposed to mean much, but I wonder

>at what degree it starts to matter.

>

>Any comments greatly appreciated.

Hi Ami,

IIRC, according to Ravnskov, the all cause death rate of older women (over

60 or somewhere around there) is lower for those with " high " cholesterol. So

the " high " cholesterol in a woman your mother's age is likely an indication

that she's LESS likely to die of most causes than a woman of her age with a

low cholesterol level.

I believe Ravnskov and other cholesterol skeptics (see my sig for more info)

put no stock whatsoever in the lipid hypothesis, which holds that

cholesterol levels are related to heart disease. Personally, I would not

worry about her level if she were MY mom. My own cholesterol, BTW, is around

270. I don't give it a second thought.

Suze Fisher

Lapdog Design, Inc.

Web Design & Development

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~vze3shjg

Weston A. Price Foundation Chapter Leader, Mid Coast Maine

http://www.westonaprice.org

----------------------------

“The diet-heart idea (the idea that saturated fats and cholesterol cause

heart disease) is the greatest scientific deception of our times.” --

Mann, MD, former Professor of Medicine and Biochemistry at Vanderbilt

University, Tennessee; heart disease researcher.

The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics

<http://www.thincs.org>

----------------------------