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What Do My Lab Test Results Indicate?
Question: My total cholesterol is 274 with my Ldl being 182, hdl being 72, and triglycerides 101. I'm a 55 yr old female and my dr. Just put me on 40 mg of cholesterol meds. Am I high risk for stroke
Brief answer.....chances of stroke with high LDL cholesterol is definitely high
Detailed answer...
Hello,
Thanks for the query.
I have read your query and understand your concern.
Ideally the LDL cholesterol ( bad cholesterol ) should be between 80-100 and once levels are much higher than this,then definitely chances of stroke do increase because it is LDL which gets deposited in arteries.
However one good thing is that your HDL cholesterol is pretty good and this gives your heart a protection also. Ideally ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol should be below 4 and still better if it is between 2-3.
In your case this ratio is 274/72 and is so less than 4 but it still needs improvement.
Once your LDL cholesterol comes down to normal range,your total cholesterol and resultant TC/ HDL ratio would improve making your heart and cardio and cerebrovascular system much healthy.
I think you can go ahead with 40 mg and once levels become normal,your doctor can bring down the dose.
In addition avoid saturated fats and trans fats and do more exercises.
I hope it helps,however you are most welcome to revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks
Detailed answer...
Hello,
Thanks for the query.
I have read your query and understand your concern.
Ideally the LDL cholesterol ( bad cholesterol ) should be between 80-100 and once levels are much higher than this,then definitely chances of stroke do increase because it is LDL which gets deposited in arteries.
However one good thing is that your HDL cholesterol is pretty good and this gives your heart a protection also. Ideally ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol should be below 4 and still better if it is between 2-3.
In your case this ratio is 274/72 and is so less than 4 but it still needs improvement.
Once your LDL cholesterol comes down to normal range,your total cholesterol and resultant TC/ HDL ratio would improve making your heart and cardio and cerebrovascular system much healthy.
I think you can go ahead with 40 mg and once levels become normal,your doctor can bring down the dose.
In addition avoid saturated fats and trans fats and do more exercises.
I hope it helps,however you are most welcome to revert to me for any further query.
Best of luck
Thanks
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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