Hi-I would be so grateful if someone could help me!! I'm just back from docs after being recalled re my cholesterol but the nurse I saw was a bit lacking in knowledge to say the least (she talked about "plant steroids" (!) and didn't even know how the figures were calculated. My HDL is 3.06 (normal levels apparently 1.3-4) LDL is 3.7 (normal 0.1-3) and total 7.2 (normal 2.5-5). I mentioned that the HDL had bumped this figure up but she just couldn't grasp what I was getting at. My blood pressure is 120/70 and pulse is 58. Soooo...should I be worried or not? Thanks a lot

No. Nothing to worry about. Statins don't even work in women. Read the posts stickied to the top of the forum to put your mind to rest. Or read some of these articles.

Thanks very much for that Nancy, it was very informative...and eye-opening. I can't believe people are still being given the wrong information-especially the thinking that low-fat is going to protect your heart when in fact it seems the opposite is true! Even the British Heart Foundation website says to cut down on saturated fat.
However as I apparently have a high risk of heart disease inherited from my parents I really do want to find out my risk actually is. I'm also a bit concerned about the damage I did in the past with low-fat diets, junk food etc, but as the medical profession aren't up to speed with current thinking I'm at a loss as how I am going to do that! If you could point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated.

Then you'll need a VAP or NMR test to measure the actual size of your LDL particles. If you're getting on in years you might even want to have a coronary artery scan if the VAP/NMR results come back sketchy.

You could have a fine LDL number but if they're all small particles you could be in trouble.

Dr. Davis has blogged extensively about this. http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com -- search on particle. Depending on how serious you are, you might even join his "Track your Plaque" program. He's had some amazing results at people reversing coronary plaque with diet and supplements.

Here's a good article from the leading lipid researcher in the US about particle sizes: http://www.meandmydiabetes.com/2010...-ron-krauss-md/

Note: There's NOTHING in the standard cholesterol test that can tell you whether you have problematic LDL or not. Except that high triglycerides sometimes are an indicator, but not always.

Now, I have no idea if these tests are available in the UK but we can get them here in the US, even though we might have to pay out of our own pockets.

Realize that there is no definitive test that can tell you exactly what your risk is right now, but I think the coronary calcium scan is about the best there currently is and the VAP/NMR tell you if you've got an issue that might become significant at some point.

Thanks again Nancy. There is so much conflicting information it's going to take a while to wade through it all. I had always been under the impression that low carb and low cholesterol went hand in hand but it seems it's a lot more complex than that. Looks like I have a lot of reading to do!

Actually, women with higher cholesterol live longer. So, pretty much everything we're told about cholesterol is wrong.

No wonder we get confused!! Sorry to keep banging on about it but after all I've read I'm thinking of this as the way forward for me: increase exercise, lose weight, no refined carbs, and if fat has to be consumed make it saturated or olive oil, a little alcohol, make sure I get plenty of oily fish and keep up my vit e suplements. How does that sound to you?

It sounds not bad. I'd include vitamin D3 in there too. Dr. Davis thinks it's one of the most important things for heart health and most people are deficient in it. You might want to read some of his articles.