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Cholesterol Test Done Showing Total Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides. Low Cholesterol Diet Recommended. Cause Of Concern ?
Question: I just received my results of recent lab work. I am a 49 year old female with weight of 135 and ht of 5'4. I jog every other day from 3 to 6 miles. Eat relatively healthy most of the time but do have pizza and mexican food once or twice a week. My total cholesterol is 216. HDL 71, LDL 133, Triglycerides 61. My letter just states to follow a low cholesterol diet. No mention of medication or followup. Should I be worried? Is my weight okay?
Hello and thank you for submitting your question.
Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding your concerns.
First of all I would like to congratulate you on your weight loss that you experienced a couple of years ago. This is a huge milestone and a great step in helping to ensure that you have optimal health.
Regarding your current weight, I really think you are in an ideal category. I do not think you need to lose any additional weight at this point. Along the same lines of consideration, the fact that you are exercising regularly is also very good in that it helps your body maintain adequate composition and balance of appropriate amount of body fat. Not only is this exercise good for your physical health. It is also excellent for your mental health.
Reviewing the results of your lipid panel, I am not concerned that you need any medication at this point. Generally, we regard an LDL of 130 to be a target to get your cholesterol number to equal or below. You are essentially right at that target.
In addition, your HDL is fantastic. We generally try to have a HDL above 50 and yours is well above that which is excellent and will promote good cardiovascular health for the rest of your life.
As long as you continue to watch what you eat and maintain a healthy balanced activity level with exercise, I see no problems with your current status. Medications can have side effects and are not always beneficial. If your cholesterol were much higher for example above 160 LDL, I would consider medication so in your case this is something I would not really discuss or recommend.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns, I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
Your question is a very good one and I will work on providing you with some good information and recommendations regarding your concerns.
First of all I would like to congratulate you on your weight loss that you experienced a couple of years ago. This is a huge milestone and a great step in helping to ensure that you have optimal health.
Regarding your current weight, I really think you are in an ideal category. I do not think you need to lose any additional weight at this point. Along the same lines of consideration, the fact that you are exercising regularly is also very good in that it helps your body maintain adequate composition and balance of appropriate amount of body fat. Not only is this exercise good for your physical health. It is also excellent for your mental health.
Reviewing the results of your lipid panel, I am not concerned that you need any medication at this point. Generally, we regard an LDL of 130 to be a target to get your cholesterol number to equal or below. You are essentially right at that target.
In addition, your HDL is fantastic. We generally try to have a HDL above 50 and yours is well above that which is excellent and will promote good cardiovascular health for the rest of your life.
As long as you continue to watch what you eat and maintain a healthy balanced activity level with exercise, I see no problems with your current status. Medications can have side effects and are not always beneficial. If your cholesterol were much higher for example above 160 LDL, I would consider medication so in your case this is something I would not really discuss or recommend.
I thank you again for submitting your question. I hope you found my response to be helpful and informative. If you have any additional concerns, I would be happy to address them.
Sincerely,
Dr. Robert
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Answered by
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