High Cholesterol

[suez63]

Just been told Ive got high Cholesterol of 6.4

Is this high ? I dont know!

Anyone got any good kind advice for me please, before I look online ?

[TheAwfulToad]

They tell everyone they've got high cholesterol. It's getting completely out of hand.

6.4 is considered "high" today, but 20 years ago it would have been considered normal.

Since total cholesterol has absolutely no physiological meaning (the correlation with disease risk is close to zero) I would take no notice. More importantly: are you exercising regularly, and are you eating properly? The most reliable predictor of heart disease risk is a sedentary lifestyle.

Here's a scatterplot:

qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qi...

[suez63 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Your so right about it getting out of hand, I saw a programme on tv about it, and all doctors are telling everyone about their cholesterol levels being too high.

I don `t exercise much now . Since having Fibromyalgia I find it difficult , but I never seem to stop. I just get extremely tired.

I know i should fit something in gradually though. My diet could be better, but Me and my husband have like a Mediterranean diet. Maybe too much red wine. And I love cooking.

Thanks for your advice and the scatterplot.

[TheAwfulToad in reply to suez63]

It would be well worth experimenting with different diets. I'm not saying diet is a cure for everything, but there's no harm in experimenting and you might hit upon something that helps. You'll find people in every corner shouting about the superiority of their approach, but I suggest googling "low-carb" + "fibromyalgia" and see what you think. Another poster (@andyswarbs) found relief for various symptoms with a strict vegan diet. These are the sort of things you can try for a couple of months with no real downsides if they don't suit you.

[Penel]

Hi Sue

If you are post menopausal, your cholesterol will go up naturally, and as The Aweful Toad has said this isn’t a high number. There are other health risks that are far more important: high blood pressure, obesity, lack of exercise or a family history of heart problems.

If you feel that you need to reduce your cholesterol levels make sure you are avoiding foods with added sugar and ultra processed foods, like most breakfast cereals. Up your high fibre foods if you can, steel cut oats seem to be helpful for some.

[suez63 in reply to Penel]

Hi Penel

Im 55 and suffer Fibromyalgia, I went through the menopause at 49. My mam is 79 and just had a mini stroke but otherwise fit all her life. No heart problems in the family. Im wouldnt say Im obese just a little overweight I could do with losing about a stone! So thanks for the advise on the fibre.

[Penel in reply to suez63]

Sorry to hear about the fibromyalgia, it can be difficult to manage. Have you tried cutting gluten out of your diet? It seems to help some sufferers.

[andyswarbs]

I subscribe the the view that bad cholesterol in the body has long term health risks. Bad cholesterol comes from animal foods & drinks. Remove these from your diet and your cholesterol should drop reliably. In some people, a very small number you may need to take other measures but for now changing to that whole food plant based diet as NO DOWNSIDES and plenty of upsides, and getting your cholesterol in order is just one of them.

[suez63]

Thanks for that advice I will look into changing My diet. It might be hard coz I love chicken and the odd cheeky glass of red wine!

[suramo Star]

Very good replies from our colleagues.

1) cholesterol is not considered bad now as far as catastrophies are concerned. But it's a good indicator of the amount of wear n tear in our body. So high cholesterol implies high degree of wear n tear.

2) fibromyalgia. The people have been cured by going on keto diet. So you may try and get rid of your ailment.

3) it's said in ayu - the ancient indian system of medicine - that the cause of illnesses is our diet. What we eat is more important. Eat healthy. Live healthy.

Gud luk.

[HealthSeeker7]

My family have all been lacto-vegetarian (now moving towards vegan) since the 1960s and the last time we checked - about 10 years ago - my then 82 year old (now 92) mother and I had a cholesterol reading of 9. My doctor wanted me to go on Statins, which I refused because I've read too much about the harm they do. Instead, I started taking a tablespoon of soya lecithin granules in my morning smoothie, which reduced my cholesterol naturally to 6 by my next visit to the doctor. My mother's doctor said to her, "9 is nothing, my cholesterol is 10", and she didn't prescribe anything to my obviously healthy mother.

My doctor actually told me that if I didn't take Statins, I would drop down dead from a heart attack, and he would say, "I told you so". Well, Statins damage muscle tissue ... and your heart is a muscle. Instead I changed my doctor.

It seemed at the time that Statins were being pushed upon the population with great force, even our local pharmacy had a new place set up to test cholesterol levels "for free", right beneath a big poster for Statins. So I researched the subject to find that Statins are being recommended to treat all sorts of conditions, even Parkinson's Disease. The pharmaceutical industry even wants to lower the recommended 'healthy' level of cholesterol even further than they already have done, so that they can give Statins to even more people, even children as young as 11.

I find the magazine WDDTY (What Doctors Don't Tell You - available online and in a few shops) helpful. Here's just one of many articles they've written about Statins -

'Careful with those statins—‘bad’ cholesterol helps us live longer', it says,

"As we’ve been saying for many years, ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol—targeted by statin drugs—is good for you as you get older. In fact, higher levels help you live longer once you reach the age of 60, a new study has discovered

The over-60s who have the highest levels of LDL cholesterol are less likely to develop fatal diseases, such as cancer, respiratory and gastrointestinal problems—and heart disease, the very thing it’s supposed to cause.

This is because medicine completely misunderstands the function of LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. Far from being an artery-clogging fat, it seems to counter micro-organisms that can cause these fatal diseases, says a group of 17 scientists from a range of medical and academic institutions, including Harvard Medical School.

They assessed the mortality and LDL cholesterol levels of 68,096 people aged over 60, and discovered that 80 per cent of those living the longest also had the highest levels of LDL cholesterol. Conversely, those with the lowest levels were far more likely to die prematurely.

There is an association between total cholesterol levels and heart disease among younger people, the researchers concede, but the balance tilts the other way once someone reaches the age of 60, the very time when public health policy dictates that statins should be taken as a routine ‘just-in-case’ protection against heart disease."

I no longer bother to take soya lecithin to lower my cholesterol, or have my cholesterol checked. I have faith my body knows what its doing, and as long as I feel healthy within myself, I don't bother going to the doctor.