Cholesterol question

Okay, this has got me stumped...had reason to get a full blood checkup done and my cholesterol has come back at 4.4 which the nurse says is great, healthy range for a female my age is 3.9 to 5. But then I go on the web and see that the Heart Foundation thinks that your cholesterol should be under 4?

Which one is it? I've never done this test before (and my hubby's shocked response to this 'great' level according to the nurse is 'what, even with all the crap you eat?' [}])

I suddenly got high blood presure and they did check sugar and cholesterol on me,,don't remember what it was but it was not as bad as my high bloodpressure did suggest.
Was told to keep an eye on my cholesterol but that it was ok level.
I did then surf cholesterol to get to know more and found several medical people writing about that there are two types of cholesterol, one is bad and one is ok.
That some of it is good to keep your cardio cascular system and keep your brains healthy and the other one is the one that cloggs up.
Read heaps about that high cholesterol is highly dramatised and that we will probably laugh at our ideas about cholesterol within a couple of years since those that live the longest lifes are those that have high cholesterol.(!)
No, I did not get any smarter after my google surf
But, I know that I have a high cholesterol but not high enough to make it dangerous and that a high blod pressure is more dangerous than a little bit too high cholesterol.
over weight and high blood pressure together with high cholesterol is dangerous than a little bit high cholesterol.
fat increase risk of cancer.

so if blood presure is ok and weight is ok,,then it is ok to have a little bit high cholesterol but not too high.
Did you get any smarter?
if not do a google and get heaps of facts that you do not know how to read
or you read it as I do it and concentrate on trying to have a lower weight and lower blood pressure and skip the cholestrol as not being so important

did she give you the split between the good and the bad cholesterol??? If the good is high and the bad is low then that result is probably excellent.. think it really depends on the split.. I had mine done years ago and was told I had abnormally low cholesterol at that level so goes to show that times and levels that are appropriate seem to change regularly.

(of course this is completely my opinion and taken from watching my husbands levels leap up and down... someone with medical knowledge will probably come along and explain it all to us correctly...)[]

Mine was 4.2 last time I had it done. The surgeon said I could/should bring it down a bit, but my GP said "He said that because he didnt have anything else to complain about"! 4 is good, as Suzanne said take this in conjunction with other health factors.
Oh JMO of course.

Does that mean I can now vouch for the health benefits of chocolate in keeping cholesterol down???

Somewhere I read that high HDL (high density lipids?) and low LDLs is what you want. They just gave me the overall figure, there were so many other things they tested for (all okay, phew!) that I didn't think to ask...will ask though when go to see the doctor.

Tigger, your level really is fine..so enjoy thy food etc.. there are meany factors,including the ratio of high C.to low C... all which can be confusing and forgotten. you really dont need to worry unless its over 5.5 and Ive seen very well folk with it at 15!!!
but if you are a bit worried could I please have a 0.5 Im still below the recommended but better than being a high risk death level for being sooooo low at 1.2 a few years ago and a ratio of 1:[xx(]

BD that's what I find confusing. I know people who've had a high cholestrol and worked hard to pull it back with little difference, and others who eat all sorts of the bad stuff and live till they're ninety or more. So I don't bother with mine and try to eat healthy and not too much and forget it!!

Beedee, I didn't realise that cholesterol can be too low! [xx(]

Jeannielea, my doctor said yesterday that genetics plays a huge part in it, she has some patients who eat really healthy diets and have a healthy lifestyle who still struggle with their cholesterol levels.

quote:Originally posted by tigger

Jeannielea, my doctor said yesterday that genetics plays a huge part in it, she has some patients who eat really healthy diets and have a healthy lifestyle who still struggle with their cholesterol levels.

Exactly, I have a friend who is a stone overweight (by recommended guidelines) and was told by her doctor she is one of the healthiest people he has had in his surgery.

I've been feeling ****ty lately so I phoned up and asked for the results of my last blood test. The iron levels are supposed to be between 39 and 45 (if I recall) and mine were at 47. That could explain a little but what really made me jump was when the nurse said they were at 69 in Feburary. Talk about pointing magnetic north!!!

Things don't half to change by huge degrees to make you feel like hell. If your temperature goes up by one degree you can feel tragic.

The white blood cell count was a bit squew whiff as well. I was surprised I hadn't been contacted, it was about a month ago I had the blood test and I have felt increasingly crappy over the last few weeks so for all I know, the raised iron and iffy white blood cell count has become even higher and iffier. The nurse said I need to keep an eye on things so I guess it means more blood tests soon. Oh joy! I'm supposed to get them done once very three months and I can usually tell if things are out of whack. The symptoms of high iron are the same as having a low iron count. I wonder how many people feel run down and think their count is low and take herbal supplements when it is actually high.?

I can remember when I was much younger being told I was run down and had ferrin? tablets prescribed. They gave me headaches from hell. If I have haemachromatosis, the last thing I needed was an iron supplement.

My mum has high blood pressure and high cholesterol. My cousin was a nurse and when Mum told her the actual numbers involved, Kerry told her she was a ticking time bomb. That was a few years back now and she is now on wolfrin and has had a couple of nasty turns. She also has osteo-thingy. I think all 5 of her remaining sisters either have that or diabetes which runs in their family. The weird thing is, a lot of them stopped drinking milk at a certain age. They decided tea was better black. The only dairy product none of them have a problem with eating (although they suffer from their indulgence later, along with their nearest and dearest having to put up with the moanings) is cream! Whipped, runny you name it, their diet starts tomorrow!

Us kids were made to eat our greens 'cos they were good for us! So why do the adults get away with not getting their daily calcium intake? We were limited on the amount of biscuits and cakes, lollies and fizzy drinks we were allowed, but it was do as I say, not as I do. Now they are suffering and us 'kids' are suffering along with them. Watching them get older and having more and more health issues due to their long term diet.

Mum said Nanna never made them eat things they didn't like. Mum always dished up a small portion of something we didn't like and we were told to just have a try, time and time again. I ate it but I didn't like it. I ate it because I was told it was good for me. If mum believed it was good for the body then why didn't she indulge as well? Agghhh!

Of course now!!! ha ha! I have to avoid lots of iron so beggar all red meat, only a few greens if any. Oh and NO LIVER!!! Mwah ha ha!

Now, if I could only get Mum to ditch the black tea idea and take up drinking milk again, halve the cream cakes (we don't want to take away her enjoyment totally) and get her to stop boiling the beejeebers out of the vegetables before they get to the plate.

Yakut

WOW this is a real learning one if only I can get head around it all, as Ive just had blood tests for things and have been called to have more next Tuesday after three days of eatin just wot the said then not eatin for 12hours ugh

The diabetes test is a buggar. Not only are you not allowed anything to drink or eat before you go in, in the morning, but then you have to have three tests and contemplate your naval for an hour between each test. They did give me a drink of orange coloured stuff, glucose I think but Ooooooh how I NEEDED a cup of tea! The eating part didn't bother me, I don't do breakfast anyway but the distance between getting up having the test and getting home for a cup of tea seems a million miles away!

I'm going to see if they'll give me another blood test today. I HATE having blood tests and they know it, they have a little note in my files about it so they'll know I'm not playing around when I ask for another one.

I slept 4 hours on Friday, went off for a wee nap at about 3pm and got woken up by the dogs barking at 7pm.

I no sooner finish my chores in the morning and I'm ready for a nap.

It's not good! I'm fed up with my wrist and I'm fed up with being too tired to do anything. I'm even too tired to watch tv.

The routine I have for the goats means Athena is milked at 10am and 10pm. Inbetween those times I feed the boys, do as much as I can manage and have a sleep.
Lucky I have the 'trouble lamp' set up in the shelter so I can see what I'm doing at night. It does give the shelter a very warm cosy glow to it though.

It's actually quite amazing to see how many of us here on the LSB have health problems and how each of us deals with their issues relating to and looking after their animals and land.

I saw the ads on TV about that blind farmer although I didn't see the programme. I have enough problems getting things done with both eyes let alone not seeing anything.

Yakut

Yakut, have you had your thyroid checked out.. ???????

I went in and asked and the nurse took me into the nurse room thing. The Dr I sometimes see popped in to do something just as she was explaining I might need to see the Dr to get more extensive tests done. She had a word with him and he printed out a long list of things to be checked. I noticed Thyroid was on the list. They are doing a virus check as well. Viruses are a bitch cos you just had to ride them out. I'm not a big fan of antibiotics cos they can have symptoms that make you feel worse than you did.

I had the physio just after the blood test. She reckons it should be seeing a marked improvement over the next week if I behave myself []
If there's no improvement, it's a trip to the specialist so they can poke around and x-ray for a split somethingorother. I'm going to be super good!

By the time I got home I was so tired I felt sick.
We pulled up into the driveway and Mertz and Macaw were sacked out under the little lean-to. Macaw got up, Mertz didn't move. I got that rising panic and leapt out of the car, still no movement, called to him, nothing. Then he leapt up and came bounding towards me hot on Macaws heels. Gave me a right shock which didn't help the dodgey way I was feeling! Had an hours nap and then went out to feed the boys. I was so tired getting their bottles ready I felt like fainting on the spot.

Shall we have bets on what the tests will reveal? I reckon nothing. It's when I feel fine and have to have the three monthly test that something shows up. Daft! That bloke Murphy and his laws again.

I also had my temperature taken 37.2 ? Mind you, it doesn't have to change much to make you feel crappy, well that's what I've experienced.

If Tigger is still reading this thread, seeing as I seemed to have hijacked it [] Sorry, there are good cholestral levels cos Kims were a little high but they said that the good levels were balancing out the bad ones. Stuff yourself full of the food that has the good ones in it. I hate googling stuff but if your more into it, google away and see what you come up with or you could phone one of those dietary experts at the hospital and ask them. You may need to make a booking if you can. They tell you what to eat and what to avoid.
I had to get advice when I found out I had Alpha 1 antitrypsin deficiany. No excesses of protein etc. I'm still confused years later but I got a bit of a guide line.

Let us know how you get on?

Yakut

Yakut Heres one three days eat fixed amount food at fixed times then 12hours no food they test, inject, stay still for 2hours (have to read I guess [8D])more tests HOme many cuppas If I can last 14hours no cuppas[xx(]