Cholesterol results - bad ??

[isthereaway]

Fasting cholesterol: 7.50
Fasting triglyceride: 5.43
HDL cholesterol :1.0
LDL (regret no calc as trig >5.0)
Chol/HDL Ratio :7.5

Age 59. On statins for 5 yrs+. BMI:34

What could GP do to help ?

Chat them through with a doctor as you could get bad advice from random internet people with no medical backgrounds.

Have you always had a high BMI?

Ive lost a lot of weight, half my bodyweight but my cholesterol hasnt changed much, down from around 6 to around 5.2 but the ratio has changed a lot, to my benefit.

Your ratio is probably more worrying than the rest of it.

What is your diet made up of? Olive oil, avocado, fish oils, nuts?

Has the doctor offered a review?

@Midlifecrisisxamillion I appreciate that, but I wanted to have a general chat.

BMI has been stable for some years. Diet ok. But thought cholesterol would be better given have been on statins for a decade.

Maybe you might need a change of drug and dosage. Your doc should review this at your annual or bi annual check ups.

I have high chol readings but declined statins. I have a good BMI and am not overweight, diet ok with the odd treat and stuff like that, but overall good.

I had a cardiac diagnosis of Atrial Fibrillation and during the treatment they did a cardiac CT scan. This shows calcium deposits in the arteries, which can be caused by high cholesterol. Despite having high chol readings, my CCS (Cardiac Calcium Score) was zero, the best it could be. So high chol is not always an awful thing.

I'm not saying you shouldn't try to reduce it, just saying that the CT scan put my mind at rest anyway since I declined statins.

Obviously as a first step you have to speak to your doctor about the drug type and dosage if they are not doing what they are intended to do.

It depends what you mean by diet is 'ok'

You need to check you are including items which promote the creation of good cholesterol and have an effect on protecting against bad cholesterol

Its not about cutting things out its about putting different things in, if they're not already in

I would chat it through with your doctor but also have a BMI of over 30 and high cholesterol. Yes, yours is high but I would agree with a PP that there are things you can add in. I brought my cholesterol down from 7 to 6 with the following changes:

Increasing fibre in my diet.

More porridge (oats are meant to be very good for cholesterol).

Three nuts every day with a Benecol yoghurt drink for a snack.

More pulses. Beans, lentils etc.

Less saturated fat overall.

I take a few different supplements that are meant be good for cholesterol every day. Omega 3, garlic and a fibre supplement.

I saw a positive difference doing all of that. The rest I'm going to have to do through losing weight and generally eating better and moving more. I'm not on statins and want to hold off and see how I go.

You need to change your diet rather than just rely on medication. Statins should always be a last resort when diet alone does not work.

Have you had your thyroid tested? It won't lower your cholesterol but there is a strong link betwenen underactive thyroid and high cholesterol, and also people whose thyroid is underactive often find losing weight very difficult.