I'm confused, is this bad or what? - High Cholesterol Message Board

Desdemona Too · 08-03-2004, 12:06 PM

Hi All,

I just got my cholesterol numbers back from the doc. Total = 213, HDL = 68 and LDL = 126. According to my HMO's website, the HDL is 'desirable' and the LDL is 'near optimal'. If that is the case, why did the doc tell me I need to lower it (because it's over 200, I'm guessing) and give me a diet to follow?

The sad part is that I compete in bodybuilding and fitness competitions and am in pretty good shape. I eat better than 99% of her patients, I'm sure.

Is there something about cholesterol that I'm missing?????

Thanks everyone!
Des

rahod · 08-03-2004, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desdemona Too

Hi All,

I just got my cholesterol numbers back from the doc. Total = 213, HDL = 68 and LDL = 126. According to my HMO's website, the HDL is 'desirable' and the LDL is 'near optimal'. If that is the case, why did the doc tell me I need to lower it (because it's over 200, I'm guessing) and give me a diet to follow?

The sad part is that I compete in bodybuilding and fitness competitions and am in pretty good shape. I eat better than 99% of her patients, I'm sure.

Is there something about cholesterol that I'm missing?????

Thanks everyone!
Des

Don't worry, you're in good shape with regards to your lipid profile

. Your ratio of TOTAL/HDL is 3.1. Anything under 4 is optimal.

ARIZONA73 · 08-03-2004, 05:02 PM

Des,

I agree with Rahod. I don't think you have anything to worry about. All of your ratios look fine to me. That 213 means nothing when your HDL is as high as yours is. The confusion lies with the medical authorities. They can never seem to make up their minds about what constitutes true risk. They just keep raising the bar higher and higher with their ever-changing guidelines. And doctors? Well, many of them are probably just as confused. It almost appears as if the ultimate goal of the drug companies is to place as many people as possible on statins, regardless of whether one is at risk or not. The funny thing is, they still are not able to determine who will and who will not develop heart disease. So what are we supposed to do, put every man, woman, and child on drugs?

NineLives · 08-04-2004, 06:52 AM

Des my husband is a body builder as well. I would wonder what your triglyceride measurement is. The carbs that my husband must consume caused his trigs to be high so he had to add more cardiovascular training in with his workouts. It has probably worked against the body building, but he felt it was necessary as he has a family history of heart disease. FYI

Desdemona Too · 08-05-2004, 08:19 AM

Thank you all for your replies. You have made me feel alot better. I'm am going to try to do better with my cheat meals (which are few and far between when I'm training) but other than that I don't know what I can do. I'm not going to worry about it unless she tries to put me on medication.

Thanks again, you guys are great!
Des