Please help me work out my chlorestrol results

[Yoyoyo1]

Here they are:

Total Chlorestrol - 7.37 mmol/L

HDL - 1.35

Triglycerides- 2.64

LDL - 4.84

Are they high, the pharmacist said 7.37 was high. Not sure what next steps should be.

I'm a 48 year old, vegetarian female.

Both my parents and grandmother had high chlorestrol- is it genetics or diet?

Hi OP, that is high.
Did your GP get in touch to book a follow up? I would say you might need to go on statins.

Whats your diet like? Are you overweight? If not then it could be genetics buf you will still need to treat it.

Thanks, it was a check up for the Future Health scheme. I'm 11 stone 3 ilbs and 5 foot 6".

Can diet changes help?

It is high and genetic factors do play a part as do other factors.

Definitely worth getting an appointment to discuss with your GP - or asking for a full health check with your practice. A full health check takes into account lots of factors as well as cholesterol (weight, lifestyle, blood pressure, co morbidities etc). They can then advise whate you should do going forward

Be aware that DH and I had our cholesterol checked for Our Future Health and the results were much higher than when tested by the GP.

Hi OP, did you do the blood test at your GP's...I would definitely book an appointment to see the GP.
What did the pharmacist suggest?

Yes diet can help. Google foods to lower cholesterol.

Im also 5ft 6 and 11 stone 3 pounds and I could definitely do with losing at least half a stone. I feel it on my joints and Im concerned about getting diabetes so on a health track now.

Hope it gets sorted OP. Xx

I had mine checked too by Better Health. Unaware of any previous issues but I got basically the same results more or less as you OP. Unusually I randomly had the worst food possible the night before and had the test at 8.30am so I do wonder whether another test would be as bad. A friend also told me that a pin prick test can be more susceptible to recent food than a full test. In any case, I have booked another test with the GP.

I had the Better Health test and mine came out fairly high too.
Total 7.11
HDL 2.25
Tri 0.96
LDL 4.42

I feel worried now 😞

OP I would ask for a standard venous blood test from the GP. That's what I've done. I am a bit worried too but am not totally convinced that the pin prick test is as accurate as the one the GP will do.

Thanks all

The ratios matter more than raw numbers, but this calculator isn't working for me... I think you need advice, OP, those are good ratios.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/cholesterol-to-hdl-ratio-calculator.html

Your headline level is on the high side of ideal, but not huge. Your ratio (as others have said) is 5.46, above 6 is considered high. So I guess it is a bit of an advanced warning.

You will find that if it has a genetic cause , changes in diet will do very little. Medication will do a lot. The doc may or may not medicate. A statin for all is no longer the policy, they will look at your ratio and take into account it could be genetic and will advise from there. Would ask doctor for a follow up as you have concerns.

It is high. Your non HDL C (TC-HDL) is high.
Your GP may want to do a fasting lipid profile and then repeat again in 3 months after trying diet modification (v low sat fat intake).
They will assess all risk factors diet, weight, smoking, alcohol, blood pressure and family history of early heart disease.
Then likely offer statin if still high.
The threshold for diagnosing familial hypercholesterolemia (genetic high cholesterol) is LDL 4.9 and or TC 7.5. You can have gene tests sometimes, (But you can have other causes of high C).

Don’t worry though, can be dealt with.

It's high, yes. Fwiw, I was a vegetarian for 20 years and my cholesterol was highest when I was veg. It's because when we aren't eating meat/animal products, we tend to eat a lot more in the way of white carbs (pasta instead of salmon, or risotto instead of roast chicken). And white carbs/sugar in the diet has a real impact on raising cholesterol.