Understanding LDL and HDL ratio
by Mary
QUESTION: I just received my CBC panel. I am a 44 yr. old female. 5'5 and 115 lbs. I walk 2.5 miles a day and just started runing 2 days a week,
It shows I am anemic 11.4
My LDL is 77 and my HDL is 51
My overall cholesterol is 140
My Vitamin B level is 170
I'm confused as to what all this means. I was instructed to follow up with my primary care physican.
Could the low B level be causing the other numbers to change? Is this B12 that is low?
Thank you
ANSWER: Hi Mary,
According to the results which you are sending me, I can say that you are living in the U.S.A, because the numbers are characteristic for the American laboratory values.
Regarding the results of your CBC, you have to know that they are representing a picture of your current condition and in several cases, they may vary from hour to hour.
However, in purpose to make decisions about the exact condition of someone, the doctor is obligate to pay attention to all values.
That means that your hemoglobin is not that low and besides this, you need the count of the erythrocytes, Mean Corpuscular Value (MCV), Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) and other parameters to define someone as anemic.
You have to know that anemia is condition during which, the number of the red blood cells is low and the amount of the normal hemoglobin in the organism is reduced.
There are several forms of anemia, which are characterized by the presence of hemoglobin, different from the normal.
Important fact is that women are normally living with lower hemoglobin, unlike the man, because of their period and their weight. During the menses, women are losing blood, which is containing hemoglobin and because of this, the organism has to be able to work, while the amount of hemoglobin is reduced.
Besides this, a low weight is requiring low amount of hemoglobin in the female organism. That is the reason why low hemoglobin level is not causing damages to your organism and you are able to live normal live.
Other important fact, which is supporting the theory, that you are not anemic is that you are running two times a week and walking 2.5 miles a day. Unlike people with anemia who are having difficulties while they are running and even while they are walking.
I just want to remind you that the normal level of total (overall) cholesterol is less than 236 mg/dl, the LDL has to be fewer than 190 and it is good for the HDL to be a little above 60mg/dl.
However, you can’t expect that you lipid status is going to be perfect, without small changes, but you have to know that it is good to have low LDL cholesterol.
Besides this, women are rarely suffering from atherosclerosis, because the estrogen is their protective factor. Because of this fact the myocardial infarction and other cardio-vascular disease are very rare in the female group.
You have to know that this vitamin is very important for the whole organism, especially for the synthesis of red blood cells. When the amount of this vitamin in the organism is low, the production of the red blood cells is reduced.
In addition, there are several reasons, for the reduced amount of vitamin B12 and one of them is related with your diet. It is obligatory for you to start eat more oysters, liver, fish and beef meat.
In some cases, the reason for the reduced amount of Coalmine (vit. B12) is not in the diet. Several diseases are characterized by reduced amount of this vitamin, but there are several other symptoms related with them.
Because of this fact, you have to make a consultation with your doctor to find out the exact reason. You have to know that the blood tests are not enough for anyone to make the right diagnosis and to explain you why your Vit b12 is reduced, further examination is needed.
Hope it helped! All the best!
Dr.Alba
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