Hi. Just wondered if I could get some advice. I have had a result of 2.8 for hcl level which I have read is abnormally high and due to recent research is now seen as a bad indicator for heart disease. My nan and Dad have both had initial strokes in 60s followed by paralysing strokes which has left my dad almost locked in and my Nan paralysed in hospital for 9 year when i was a kid. I am very worried now as I am 49 and it seems to me that this suggests a genetic problem. From what I have read there there is a genetic mutation in SR-B1 which can cause you to have abnormally high Hcl and as I have 3 sons I would like to get a test. Does anyone know anything about this and if you can get tested in the Uk. Which specialist should I ask for a referral too? What has happened to my Dad is the most awful thing and I very worried about myself and my sons. Many thanks
Abnormal high hcl cholesterol level - Cholesterol Support
Abnormal high hcl cholesterol level
I take it you are talking about HDL cholesterol!
You need to give full details of lipid numbers for people to comment.
Your GP who has your medical records, can refer you to FH clinic for further tests for you and your children.
After tests FH clinic can offer you guide lines.
Have a look at Heart UK website, there is a phone number to discuss and also an email address.
Thank you. Sorry first time I have ever posted. Yes it was the serum hdl cholesterol level. 2.8 in uk. Serum cholesterol was 6.7. Serum triglycerides 0.7. RAtio was 2.4. LDL was 3.6. Thank you for your help
Thank you.
please make an appointment to your doctor to look at risk analysis and to get referral to FH clinic,
Welcome to the Cholesterol forum. I have read extensively on this subject and while there is some concern, it is far from conclusive.
Your triglyceride levels are optimal, as is your TC/HDL ratio. The LDL-C is a little high but given your triglyceride level, I wouldn't be worried.
LDL-C is a sub-optimal clinical indicator and a diagnosis on an elevated HDL-C value alone cannot be made.
The best clinical risk indicator as far as cholesterol metrics are concerned is LDL-P. If LDL-P is low while LDL-C is high (discordance) then your CVD risk is low. Regular monitoring of your HbA1C will also provide insight as well as your uric acid and ALT liver enzyme measure.
You can get a test called NMR Lipoprofile which will provide a great deal of insight with respect to LDL-P (particle number) as well its size and density. The report will also let you know if you are insulin sensitive (good) or insulin resistant (bad).
Here's where you can get it in the UK:
smartnutrition.co.uk/health...
The test costs $100 USD in North America which is where I'm located.
I note that 50% of heart attacks and strokes occur to people with optimal levels of LDL-C. Therefore you cannot over-emphasize LDL-C and thus why it is a sub-optimal clinical indicator, among other reasons.
They tendency for your blood to clot can be determined by 3 tests:
- INR (Prothrombin time)
- fibrinogen - platelet aggregation
- homocysteine levels
Elevated homocysteine may be due to low levels of B vitamins in your diet and excessive consumption of red meat and dairy products. That's not to say you should avoid those foods but eat them modestly. B vitamins are found in green leafy vegetables and legumes (beans, chick peas, lentils, almonds, green peas), as well as in avocado and broccoli. You can supplement with Vitamins B6, B9 (folic acid or folate), and B12. Many older people have poor absorption rates of B12 so you may want to get a test for this. In the meantime, there's no harm in supplementing with B vitamins.
An anti-inflammatory diet minimizes dairy and red meat, however, the consumption of grass-fed, pasture raised beef, as well as the dairy products of livestock raised in this manner provide many nutritional benefits, especially vitamin K2.
Vitamin K2 is critical for transporting calcium from the arteries to the bones where it is most needed.
Grass-fed dairy products are high in K2.
Among the best food sources of K2 are various cheeses, in order:
- Gouda
- jarlsberg
- edam
- Swiss emmental
- most hard aged-cheeses
There are now K2 supplements available. Vitamin K2 works synergistically with vitamin D3 (the sunshine vitamin - now thought to be a hormone). Most people should take 2000 IUs of D3 daily along with 100 to 300 mcg of vitamin K2.
Good luck and look up all of my posts if you need more info.
Thank you so much for that very detailed reply. I am going to look into everything you have said. Clearly things are more complicated than I thought. Your post has given me a lot to think about. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.
You're welcome. One more thing - elevated LDL-C or cholesterol in general is a symptom of a sub-optimal diet and lifestyle. Treating the symptom (statins) is typical of today's modern pharmaceutical-centric medical systems. We should instead be treating the cause - diet and lifestyle.
The Mediterranean Diet which can be otherwise described as a plant-based, whole foods diet, has proven to be most efficacious in bringing the body's biochemistry into balance. In today's fast-paced, dopamine-seeking society which requires instant reward, there has developed an over-reliance on fast food. The flaw with this is that fast food is characterized by excessive processing which among other things removes the fiber that is essential for disposal of excess LDL-C and for a balanced gut-bacteria.
A healthy gut microbiome provides the signals to the brain for healthy hormonal functioning.
When the master-gland - the pituitary - which runs our endocrine system is not functioning correctly, the resulting hormonal imbalance disrupts the biological efficiency our body and mind requires for good health. Yes mental health is likely related to hormonal imbalances caused by diet and lifestyle.
This is how you get people, most often women, who end up with hypothyroid conditions. It is also why many people are living with some degree of anxiety.
While a small percentage of these people can point to genetic causes, most thyroid dysfunction and anxiety occur due to a poor diet and lifestyle.
One need look no further than the fact that people with a variety of mental health conditions including schizophrenia, seizures, depression, and anxiety are finding significant symptom mitigation through the use of the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is one that changes a person's fuel source from simple carbohydrates to healthy fats (olive oil, nuts, grass-fed butters, and avocados among others).
medium.com/@drstephanie/how...
Fast-food, whether in the form of quick-serve restaurants like McDonalds and their peer group, or in the form of processed packaged foods in the supermarket, are often overloaded with sugar, omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (these are bad), sodium, chemical preservatives, and too little fiber.
Sugar and simple carbohydrates are toxic to the body over the long-term due to their inflammatory effects on the human body and the resulting insulin response required to regulate elevated blood glucose.
Watch this 13 minute video:
A diet that is reliant upon processed foods and fast foods, is a diet that will inevitably lead to early cardiovascular disease, among many other chronic illnesses such as diabetes, renal failure, fatty-liver, cancer, and arthritis to name the most obvious.
Sleep is also essential to the efficient regulation and functioning of our body's biochemistry.
Getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep on a nightly basis should be everyone's target. If your sleep is sub-optimal, it might be another reason why you might be experiencing sub-optimal bio-markers.
Stress increases the production of cortisol which increases blood-sugar. Elevated blood sugar results in arterial inflammation which begins the cascade of immunological responses that ultimately results in arterial plaque accumulation (cardio-vascular disease).
We haven't even touched upon smoking and excessive alcohol consumption.
While a genetic mutation in SR-B1 may be a possibility, statistically speaking, genetic mutations such as this one tend to be rare. There's a much higher probability of your parents simply having a poor diet and lifestyle (which includes excessive stress, poor sleep duration and quality). That doesn't mean you should not test for this mutation but the probabilities of its existence are low.
By the way I have an HDL-C of 2.53 mmol/l but it was only 1.2 before I adopted a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Good luck.
Thank you. I don’t eat much fast food as I have Ibs and I have been trying a Low FODMAP diet. Maybe that is not helping as it is hard to get the right amount of fibre. I am under a lot of stress and usually only sleep for a couple or hours at a time. I am looking at improving my diet and cooking everything from scratch. I also wondered if I have had too much soy and eggs. To try and control the IBS and if that has raised the hcl. Seeing a parent and grandparent (his mum) both paralysed for years has really frightened me. For myself and my sons. What you have said though has made sense. I will look into the genetic side of it and also the test you mentioned and continue to try and improve our diet. Thank you
For the record, I'm assuming your use of the term 'hcl' is in reference to HDL-C (high density lipoprotein cholesterol).
Soy promotes estrogen - if you're a female, that's good, if you're a male, that's sub-optimal.
Eggs are not a problem, if they are from free-range, pasture-raised chickens without the use of antibiotics.
Eggs have many essential nutrients including vitamin K2, B-vitamins, and essential minerals such as zinc, copper and iron.
I personally have 4 boiled eggs per week. However, leading scientists and medical researchers (Dr. Chris Masterjohn) suggest that the choline found in eggs is essential to good health and you can consume up to 4 eggs daily.
Dietary cholesterol as a risk for cardiovascular disease was discredited years ago.
You answered me before I edited my last answer to you - my HDL-C is currently 2.53 mmol/l. It was only 1.2 mmol/l before I modified my diet and lifestyle. Therefore having an HDL-C level around 2.6 mmol/l is likely more related to diet and lifestyle than a genetic mutation.
The FODMAP diet general precludes the consumption of legumes which are an excellent source of fiber. However, the act of cooking them in a liquid (I like tomato sauce) makes them FODMAP eligible.
The mark of a successful dietary regimen is the ease with which it can be adhered to over time, FODMAP appears to be difficult to adhere to over the long-term.
The Mediterranean Diet is a low-inflammatory diet and is not as restrictive and may resolve your health issues just as well.
Adhering to overly restrictive diets in and of itself can generate stress and anxiety which aggravate IBS.
Consider the Mediterranean Diet and mentally relax about your range of food options.
One last thing, let's remember that exercise is also essential to good health. If you have not been used to exercising, you can start with a 20 minute walk. Do this daily and as you get more fit, you can increase the duration or frequency until you get to 60 minutes daily. At some point you should introduce resistance training (weights) as it increases your metabolic rate (addressing hypothyroidism among other things) and increases nitric oxide production in your arteries which lowers blood pressure.
If weights are impractical, then use your own body weight by doing things such as push ups or squats or chin-ups.
Best of luck.
What about "genetic mutation in SR-B1" an FH?
Read the last paragraph in my second response to Wheezy42. The genetic mutation being responsible for his parent's health is a possibility, but is not probable. Elevated HDL-C above the norm, is not necessarily a problem - there is very little science on this subject with no conclusive data. It could more likely be a function of a healthy diet and lifestyle. I have an HDL-C of 2.53 - however it was only 1.2 before I adopted a healthy diet and lifestyle.
I was sent to a nutritionist years ago because my HDL was 92! While She was checking out my blood tests, I asked
what it meant when my number was so high! This is what she said to me! "Something is really protecting your heart"
I was probably 50 yrs old. My HDL has always been high ,and I will be 86 this May! The only heart problem that they said I have is A fib, that hasn't caused me anything but palpitations! The people that
I knew that had problems with their Cholestral, had low HDL, so I never
worried about it. I am on Oxygen for COPD caused by being exposed to Asbestos being removed in my cellar while living in the apartment!
Marin5
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