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#1 (permalink) 05-16-2008, 06:39 PM
howdysf
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LDL Cholesterol
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Got my lipid panel done. everything looked good, but my LDL Cholesterol was 107.
On my health provider's website, it says normal is less than 129... I got a call from the pharmacist today telling me I should take cholesterol medication because "diabetics should keep it under 100."... I don't know d a m n e d thing about cholesterol... does this sound right?
I don't want to take any more medication and if "normal" is less than 129.. then ?#?$??
What are y'alls thoughts/experience with this.. what have you been told?
thx
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#2 (permalink) 05-16-2008, 07:14 PM
pdxdennisj
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Consult your doctor. Low LDL is good (it is the bad stuff). There is some rational to keeping it below 100 for diabetics and our risk of heart disease is greater.
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#3 (permalink) 05-16-2008, 07:20 PM
notme
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My doctor is very aggressive with LDL. He said that he would like it under 70. However, he said my HDL (the good one) was very very very high at 99. He said it protects you somewhat, but still would like me on meds because my LDL was 166. I am still debating.
What was your HDL?
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#4 (permalink) 05-16-2008, 07:58 PM
Funnygrl
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My doctor also wants LDL under 70 for diabetics. American Heart Association says under 100 for diabetics, under 70 for diabetics who have heart issues already.
#5 (permalink) 05-17-2008, 12:56 AM
jacobsam622
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Eat lots of peanut butter and green beans and in no time you numbers will be great.
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#6 (permalink) 05-17-2008, 09:35 PM
slipperyelm
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Jacobsam, have you perhaps a link to share on the topic of peanut butter, green beans, and LDL? (I've never heard a claim like that.) And can I suppose you mean peanut butter with no hydrogenated oil in it? And do you mean to exclude other fat sources and use peanut butter instead, or just include peanut butter daily?
#7 (permalink) 05-19-2008, 07:22 AM
BrianSCohen
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Howdysf,
I would classify you as having low normal LDL. Your most important cholesterol numbers are HDL (should be high > 40) and Triglycerides (should be low < 150). As a diabetic, if you control your carbs, you can readily get your Tris down. To get your HDL up, exercise, eat lots of good fats, and drink red wine.
Personally, I don't worry about LDL. If my LDL were 107, I would seek to raise it. You will obviously hear different opinions. Everyone has a right to a normal cholesterol. I don't believe the NCEP guidelines that seek to drive diabetic's cholesterol levels artificially low. I think it is based on bad science and dangerous.
Should you choose to accept the advise to treat your cholesterol levels, you need to be aware that you are accepting some real risk. Lowering your cholesterol raises your chances of cancer, you may end up with endochrine and hormone imbalances, and the drugs themselves may have serious side effects. In the end, it is your body. You should get all the information you can to make in informed decision.
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#8 (permalink) 05-19-2008, 11:50 AM
howdysf
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Thanks Brian,
I actually, at this point, have no intention of taking medication. I thought it was strange that my numbers were 22 points below the "cap" of "normal" and the pharmacist was trying to get me to take cholesterol drugs... she said diabetics should be under 100, but I thought I was pretty close anyway...
Thanks for the affirmation...
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#9 (permalink) 05-19-2008, 02:53 PM
BlueSky
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Quote:
Originally Posted by howdysf
... I thought it was strange that my numbers were 22 points below the "cap" of "normal" and the pharmacist was trying to get me to take cholesterol drugs......
The pharmacist has obviously been taken in by the big pharma PR effort to get as many people as possible on statins. This whole catastrophe came about because of a very simple misunderstanding. The flawed logic goes something like this :
Most heart attacks happen to the elderly - 80% of heart attacks happen to people over the age of 65. Cholesterol is used to make plaque, and it is the rupture of plaque that causes most heart attacks. And cholesterol levels rise as we age. So it is not surprising that people who have heart attacks tend to have high cholesterol. The incidence of both these things increases as we age.
But to say that high cholesterol causes the heart attacks is obviously jumping to a conclusion. There is no evidence of any causality here. It is simply a loose statistical association. But, based on this flawed premise, the statin manufacturers, as well as the compliant doctors and pharmacists persuade anyone who will listen to use statins to drive down their cholesterol.
What they don't tell you is that cholesterol is produced by your liver. And that the liver produces as much cholesterol as the body requires to function properly. Cholesterol is used to make cells, produce hormones, maintain the central nervous system and various other important things. Other substances produced with cholesterol have functions that are just as essential. Ubiquinone is essential for muscles to work properly, and lack of it increases the risk of conjestive heart failure. Statins also inhibit ubiquinone production. These substances (cholesterol, CoQ10, dolichol) are also powerful antioxidants. They protect us from cancer. And taking statins reduces the amount of them available for this purpose.
One would have hoped that medical professionals would know better. But they rely heavily on information that is fed to them, about 70% of which is sponsored directly or indirectly by pharmaceutical companies. So I suppose it is not that surprising they have got the wrong end of the stick. What is surprising is that all these apparently intelligent people agree on it. It seems that most of them have been sucked into a sort of group-think phenomenon, and anyone who disagrees is marginalised. The result is that the public is lead astray.
Messing with the liver's production of cholesterol is, IMO, completely unecessary and incredibly foolish.
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