Help please, absolutely discouraged w/cholesterol

[Isiar]

Hello everyone!
Yesterday I posted my sister's cholesterol results (not very good).
Well, today I heve mines and I'm absolutely discourage, almost crying.
Tolat chol. 352
HDL 47
HDL/ Chol Total 0.133

LDL 278
VLDL 27

Thriglycerides 137

Any advice or similar experience. I'm afraid I couldnt continue and very confused about everything...Need advice. (I;ve been doingAtkins for 8 weeks by now.
Thanks in advance, Isiar

[yellowman]

My opinion, unless you are having some medical problems or visible cholesterol deposits (such as in the eyes), I would wait a while, get to and maintain your goal weight, stick with the low carb plan and exercise, then recheck months down the road.

However, you may be one of the few with familial hypercholesteremia (incidence of 7/1000). If that is the case, no matter what you do, only medicine will bring it down.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000392.htm

Personally, I'm not convinced of the diet-heart hypothesis, or that increased ldl cholesterol levels cause heart disease.

http://www.thincs.org/

http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

Either way, good luck to you!

[geo53562]

Hi Isiar--

I don't know anything about your history...have you ever had your cholesterol and triglycerides tested before? Have you been taking any medications for cholesterol control? What kind? For how long?

As you can see by my numbers (link posted in your other thread on this subject), I have been taking medication for a long time, but it wasn't working very well. I was gaining weight, and the only medications I ever took that brought my cholesterol and triglycerides into a normal range had such bad side-effects that I couldn't keep taking them.

I think the numbers you have shown us are not terrible. Your HDL is in "normal" range, and will probably improve as you add avocados and nuts to your diet. Your Total Cholesterol is high, but only because your LDL is elevated. People using the Atkins program generally report better LDL numbers around (or before) their 6th months of being on this diet, and I see no reason why your LDL will not drop. Remember, resistance exercise (like weights) is also very good for lowering LDL.

It is possible that you will have to take some medication to help you reduce your LDL figures, but if you are otherwise healthy I do not believe it will be a problem for you to check your levels when you have been on the Atkins program for 6 months, and make a decision with your doctor at that time.

I am hoping that someday I may no longer have to take medicine to control my cholesterol. I have already (by using the Atkins program) managed to bring my Blood Glucose figures completely into "normal" range, and they were 3x normal only a few months ago!

I'm betting that if you exercise regularly and stick with the Atkins, you will know exactly where you stand by Christmas. Good luck to you, and keep letting us know how you are doing.

[Isiar]

Thank you for all your advice. I went to the doctor today and it was a medical explanation for my high cholesterol: my TSH (Thyroid hotmone) was at the minimun, at 20 (the normal highest is 4!) So, probably that is the cause.
I'll check again in 6 weeks, but for now I feel completely relax and trusting in Atkins again...
My best wishes for all of you!
Isiar