Help with test results anyone?

Can anyone help please? Had a fasting cholesterol test and I don’t understand the results 🙄. I’ve asked Doctor and his response was ‘it’s stable’ ?? As they are pushing me to go on Statins I really need to understand what they mean. This is what’s on the results. Thanks

HDL Cholesterol Level 44P5

1.9 mmo1/L (1.3 -2)

(XE2eD) 5.93 mmo1/L (5)

(XEEUg) 3.1 mmo1

(44P6) 3.6 mmo1/L

Lipids (XE2g7)

Serum lipid levels

Serum cholesterol level 5.93 mmol/L [< 5.0]

Above high reference limit

Serum triglyceride levels 0.92 mmol/L [0.3 - 2.3]

GFR calculated abbreviated MDRD 95 mL/min

eGFR based on Caucasian patient. Multiply result by

1.159 if patient is of African descent.

This eGFR is consistent with category G1 - Normal eGFR.

Serum HDL cholesterol level

Serum HDL cholesterol level 1.91 mmol/L [1.3 - 2.0]

Serum cholesterol/HDL ratio 3.10

Serum LDL cholesterol level 3.60 mmol/L

[DaveSpice]

You are absolutely correct to learn before taking drugs like statins, but you have a bit of reading to do. healthline.com/health/serum.... If you cant get your head around it, book a consultancy with Dr, Gupta of York Cardiology, who will exlain and advise you. I have had two and he helped me a lot. First watch a few of his relevent videos on Youtube. youtube.com/watch?v=EIqJhvu...(Not working as expected?) Bonne Chance..

[specific_apartment_7]

This website should help as sex and other factors may impact whether you are in the healthy range or not. heartuk.org.uk/cholesterol/...

[Hidden in reply to specific_apartment_7]

Thanks that’s very helpful

[Hidden]

Thanks all I was really hoping someone could explain what my results meant as it’s all double Dutch to me. Is my cholesterol high low or just right is my bad cholesterol high my lipids? These test results are so complicated even my GP obviously doesn’t understand them by saying it’s stable what the hell does that tell me!

[specific_apartment_7 in reply to Hidden]

I can only go by the normal ranges provided by your lab which are in brackets after your results. So this bit: "Serum cholesterol level 5.93 mmol/L [< 5.0]" indicates that your total cholesterol is a little high as it should be under 5.Your kidney function is good (GFR). Your triglyceride levels are good. Your good cholesterol (HDL) is within normal range: "HDL cholesterol level 1.91 mmol/L [1.3 - 2.0]". With your bad cholesterol: "LDL cholesterol level 3.60 mmol/L" , I can't really say if it is good or bad as the normal range is not given. However, according to one reference site it should be between 0.64 - 2.58 mmol/l but this may not apply to your specific lab results as they can vary from lab to lab. (BTW before anyone tells me I shouldn't be giving advice, I do have a medical science degree although I am not working in the area.)

Hope this shines a little more light on your results. So in summary, it appears to me that although your good cholesterol levels are good, your bad cholesterol levels are probably a bit high (but we need the reference range by the lab). However, the ratio of good to total cholesterol is appears good at 3.1. But these levels are for healthy adults. If you have a heart condition, doctors may want to see better numbers. That's the best I can offer you, but maybe ask the doctor why they want you to go on statins and could you try changing your diet and exercise levels first as you feel like the numbers are not incredibly bad?

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello... Whilst not an expert two things stand out to me. First your total cholesterol is above the NHS guideline of 5.0 and below and your LDL is above the guideline of 3.0 and below.

If your diet is none too good your may be able to get into range with dietary changes. However if it is a healthy one I would seriously consider statins.

[Hidden in reply to MichaelJH]

According to the cholesterol chart posted above my levels are pretty good all round

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to Hidden]

I would basically agree bar the total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol which are about 20% above NHS guidelines. The total cholesterol guideline drops to 4.0 or below if there are additional risk factors such as family history,diabetes, BMI of 30 or above etc.

[SkiMonday]

Your total cholesterol is 5.93 mmol/L which the report picks out as above the high limit. I know that the NHS web site states that it should be below 5 but, when my level was 4.5, I had an appointment with a diabetic nurse who said that level was a bit too high. Three days after that I had a heart attack caused by cholesterol build up.

Although everyone’s different and it’s a bit of a lottery, this suggests that it would be good for your health to reduce your total cholesterol level. One way of doing this is to go on statins. Another way is to improve your diet. It seems that increasing the amount of exercise that you do will also help (but that seems to be less well documented). My personal preference would be to go for the diet and exercise approach because I prefer to avoid drugs if it’s practical to do so. It might be a good idea to use statins whilst working on reducing your level with an aim to relying on the diet and exercise approach for the long term (I don’t know what the medical opinion on this is). Obviously, it’s your choice as to what you decide to do and it’s best to discuss the options with your doctor.

NB I’m not a medic. I’ve just picked up knowledge of the subject through my own experience along with information that I’ve received as a heart attack survivor.

I wish you well whatever course you choose to follow.

[Hidden in reply to SkiMonday]

I wish it was that easy. I don’t want to take statins I’ve been reading up on them and they are especially bad for women. My diet is and always has been very good always have exercised regularly and still do, don’t smoke my bmi is 21 I have a couple of glasses of red wine twice a week, I’m very disciplined. Cook from scratch never have caffeine or add sugar to drinks, never eat butter or any spread, don’t eat cakes and biscuits crisps etc. If my diet has elevated my cholesterol by 1 point then there’s not much else I can do apart from starve myself!

[SkiMonday in reply to Hidden]

In that case, it seems that medication is your only option. If you do start on statins, your doctor should be monitoring your response and move you on to alternative medication if your body can’t tolerate them.

[Hidden]

So what’s the point of taking statins if your level was that low but you still had a heart attack?

[SkiMonday in reply to Hidden]

In my case, the statins are there to reduce my cholesterol level further (it’s standard practice after a heart attack). I happened to have a second angiogram about a year after I had a stent fitted. The surgeon commented that my archeries were clear so it seems that the statins are doing their job.

[Hidden in reply to SkiMonday]

So can you stop now? I tried them for 6 weeks but my quality of life was grim

[SkiMonday in reply to Hidden]

My suggestion is to compile a list of the problems that you encountered when taking the statins then discuss that with your doctor. If you can be specific about the problems, the doctor is more likely to take notice. It seems that, if one statin gives a bad reaction, changing to a different one can make all the difference.

Personally, since I’ve had a heart attack, I’m on medication for life. I can still run though!

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Hidden]

Statins also stabilise even small areas of plaque and reduce inflammation.

You can also have a heart attack with low cholesterol and without any blockages in your coronary arteries.

Non obstructive coronary artery disease, NOCAD.

There are several different types of statin. Perhaps ask you doctor to reduce your dose or try a different one.

[Hidden in reply to Milkfairy]

You are only quoting what a doctor has told you but I’m currently reading

amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/145165...

Which is an eye opener especially where women are concerned

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Hidden]

I hope you are able to make the right decision for you, based on the best reliable information available.

Some of us here on the forum are long term heart patients, who have survived some life threatening heart events or live with debilitating heart conditions.

It perhaps gives us a different perspective.