Results of blood work -cholesterol 268 - what does this mean?

QUESTION: Cholesterol

Cholesterol, Total 268 mg/dL (<240)

9342-7 t chol 268/ HDL high so ok

HDL:

HDL 124 mg/dL (>40) 12771-2 hdl 124 excellent


ANSWER: Hi,

According to the blood work you have given, I would say that the problem with you is the high total cholesterol.

What I see is that you have high HDL, which can stimulate a high total cholesterol.

However, I do not have your triglycerides levels to calculate LDL, and to see if there is something wrong with them.

In other words, you have provided a truncated blood work, therefore, my judgement is also limited.

Keep in mind that when you do a lipid profile, you should look at every component given (i.e, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL) to understand better your health condition.

Therefore, I can only say that you really have an excellent HDL cholesterol level, meaning, you are protected from any cardio-vascular disease.

However, as I already mentioned before, we should look at the other lipid fractions to better judgement.

Hope it helped although limited!

Dr.Alba

Just don,t know - my HDL is 25 and my LDL is 155?

QUESTION: My Hdl is 25 and my Ldl is 155. Is this bad or good?


ANSWER: Hi,

Your HDL seems to be low (the normal level>50), and your LDL is slightly high (normal till 130).

You are asking if this is bad or good for you.

Well, if we discuss your figures separately, we can say that a HDL level of 25 is bad, indicating that your heart is not protected and you have high chances for cardiovascular disease.

With regards to your LDL levels, they are slightly high, enhancing your risk to develop cardiovascular diseases.

Therefore, you should work more on what has caused your figures to be damaged. So,

- is it because you are not following a healthy lifestyle?

- is it because you are abusing with drugs, alcohol and smoking?

- is it because you always have high calorie meal with lots of oily foods?

- is it because you are not moving your body enough to consume the calories taken during meal?

- is it because you have an underlying disease or condition, contributing to the above-mentioned figures?

- is it because you are taking some medications that have altered your lipid profile?

Or it is something else that only your doctor knows to give and exact answer. Therefore, please try to understand what is causing altered lipid profile, in order to bring your HDL and LDL numbers back to their normal level again and live a healthy life.

All the best!

Dr.Alba

Other Question



Figuring my total cholesterol when hdl is 50 and ldl is 124



QUESTION:
My hdl is 50 and my ldl is 124, what is my total?



ANSWER: Hi,


For your information, there is a formula of calculating total cholesterol according its fractions (i.e, hdl, ldl) and triglycerides, as following:

Total cholesterol = LDL levels + (Triglycerides levels / 5 + hdl levels)

As you may see from this formula, we should also know your triglycerides levels in order to accurately calculate your total cholesterol.

In lack of that data, I can not give you an exact number for your total cholesterol levels.

If you will be so kind to provide us that data, we can calculate your total cholesterol and provide you the most accurate advice.

However, based on your hdl and ldl levels, I can say that, separately, they seem perfectly normal to me, within their normal limits.

Furthermore, I want to encourage you to keep them at these levels in order to live a healthy life.

All the best!

Dr.Alba