My Doctor did a whole bunch of blood tests on me, from liver panel, through thyroid panel to the more mundane cholesterol levels.
They called and told me everything was normal and that I was still HIV negative then they sent me a nice little card. Most of it is to be checked Normal or Abnormal (all normal) but a few of them are puzzling to me and I really do not know what exactly these numbers mean they do not have a Normal Abnormal choice, they have numbers and goals:
Though Total Cholesterol is below 200 at 184 it is only 16 below 200 - does this mean I am at risk of having above 200 Cholesterol in future? or is this a normal level for a man 37 years old? How well am I within this goal? I tried looking it up on the web but all the sites are more interested in lowering higher (above goal) Cholesterol to below goal Cholesterol - this doesn't tell me squat about how close I am to being above the darn old goal of 200.
And the rest of those numbers, though below are they far enough below, too far below, could be lower? If 130 is good is 0 better?
And finally the HDL it is only 1 above 45 - is that good, dangerously close to being not good or what? If 45 is the goal, is 50 better?
Good Cholesterol? Bad Cholesterol? If I am only one point above on the good Cholesterol, do I need to start eating more Cholesterol containing foods to raise that number?
lastly, why in the heck can't doctors tell you a little bit more, and why can't web sites be more informative for those who fall below the goals (or above them, whatever)?
Thanks
David
Posts: 3885 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02
If you are looking at web sites on cholesterol make sure you don't look at a UK site. I think you will be given a goal of 5. Yesterday I was told that mine was 3.5
Lets hope our life insurance companies are not looking at this posting.
Posts: 32 | Location: Norfolk, UK | Registered: 06-03-02
David, your levels look very good. You NEED cholesterol in your body, so no "0" is NOT a goal to aim for.
"What does the test result mean? In a routine setting where testing is done to screen for risk, the test results are grouped in three categories of risk:
Desirable : A cholesterol below 200 mg/dL (5.18 mmol/L) is considered desirable and reflects a low risk of heart disease. Borderline high: A cholesterol of 200 to 240 mg/dL (5.18 to 6.22 mmol/L) is considered to reflect moderate risk. Your doctor may decide to order a lipid profile to see if your high cholesterol is bad cholesterol (high LDL) or good cholesterol (high HDL). Depending on the results of the lipid profile (and any other risk factors you may have) your doctor will decide what to do.
High Risk: A cholesterol above 240 mg/dL (6.22 mmol/L) is considered high risk. Your doctor may order a lipid profile (as well as other tests) to try to determine the cause of your high cholesterol. Once the cause is known, an appropriate treatment will be prescribed. In a treatment setting, testing is used to see how much cholesterol is decreasing as a result of treatment. The goal for the amount of change or the final (target) value will be set by your doctor. The target value is usually based on LDL.
Is there anything else I should know? Cholesterol should be measured when a person is healthy. Blood cholesterol is temporarily low during acute illness, immediately following a heart attack, or during stress (like from surgery or an accident). You should wait at least 6 weeks after any illness to have cholesterol measured.
It is not necessary to fast when you have a cholesterol test. Cholesterol does not change in response to a single meal. Cholesterol does change in response to changes in long term patterns of eating — like changing from a high fat diet to a low fat diet — but it takes several weeks to see changes in blood cholesterol in response to changes in diet.
There is some debate about whether very low cholesterol is bad. Low cholesterol (less than 100 mg/dL (2.59 mmol/L)) is often seen when there is an existing problem like malnutrition, liver disease, or cancer. However there is no evidence that low cholesterol causes any of these problems."
Here is a website that gives a little more information:
Very Good and Good mean different things to different people.
A "Whatever" person may find a passing grade of C Very good. A perfectionist is never satisfied with anything less than A+
I fall somewhere in between - Say B/B+.
We established that 200 is good - Indeed this appears to be the "goal" of most people - but is there a goal for the Perfectionist (A type Personality?)
Is there a better?
David
Posts: 3885 | Location: Leaving land, heading for the ocean | Registered: 06-03-02
