Need Help with Lipid Levels

I was shocked to receive my recent Lipid blood results:

2011 2009
Total 256 186
HDL 70 58
LDL 164 112
Trigl. 112 81

I eat well, exercise, avoid fats. I have worked hard to keep my cholesterol in a normal range. I have been more diligent in the last 2 years after being diagnosed with L AFib, and my blood results are higher. How can I have a good range of HDL (good) and a poor range of LDL (bad)? Just doesn’t make sense. My blood sugar ranges from 89-97. My blood pressure is normally 115/70. I have kept my Afib under control with only one episode in February 2009. I take the recommended supplements.

Any help would be appreciated.

Valli

From the Framingham study, those with high cholesterol live longer than those with low.
The most successful healing diet is high saturated animal fat, moderate meat, low to zero carbs, supplement common mineral deficiencies.

Please check dietary advice thoroughly before trying it, preferably with those who have had millenia of experience.

William

Valli - there are many important functions of cholesterol in the body. We've addessed those numerous times in the various posts talking about the detrimental effects of statins used to lower cholesterol levels. You can read endlessly with a search. Cholesterol is not the enemy. I hope you aren't coerced into managing cholesterol with statin drugs.

It's important to know that there are other significant markers that predict your risk for heart attack or stroke which are considered silent symptoms and are very important to test and manage if out of range... much more useful than measuring cholesterol. Included would be the small particle lipoprotein - Lp(a), Hemoglobin AlC, Homocysteine, Fibrinogen, Ferritin, High Sensitivity or Cardiac C-reactive protein, Oxidized LDL... If you haven't been tested for these, it would be good to begin.

Also, read the work by cholesterol researcher, Uffe Ravnskoff, MD, PhD, starting with

The Benefits of High Cholesterol
By Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD

People with high cholesterol live the longest. This statement seems so incredible that it takes a long time to clear one´s brainwashed mind to fully understand its importance. Yet the fact that people with high cholesterol live the longest emerges clearly from many scientific papers. Consider the finding of Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, who reported in 1994 that old people with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as did old people with a high cholesterol.1 Supporters of the cholesterol campaign consistently ignore his observation, or consider it as a rare exception, produced by chance among a huge number of studies finding the opposite.
Continue
[www.westonaprice.org]
[www.ravnskov.nu]

Here's the link to an old post almost 10 years old on the Red Flag Markers
<[www.afibbers.org]>

Jackie

Thank you William & Jackie.

I will not take a statin. I changed to an OD. She is out of town, but if she recommends a statin I will find another Doc. I live in California, and have Kaiser, I’m sure they have a protocol that all their Dr’s are to follow. I feel lucky to be able to get any insurance with an A-fib diagnosis.

Jackie I had most of these tests you recommend when I was diagnosed with a-fib almost two years ago. All my tests come out “normal range”. I need to have the C-reactive protein test which I will have done at an outside lab.
I've started reading posts by Erling about the benefits of high blood pressure. I have a lot of reading to do. My question is what can cause total & LDL levels to go up so high in two years? Perhaps I will find that in my readings

Thanks agian for your wisdom.

Hi Valli,

"I've started reading posts by Erling about the benefits of high blood pressure." ... huh??

Must be a different Erling -- I've never heard of such a thing!!

The other Erling

Author: Erling (---.gv.shawcable.net)
Date: 01-05-11 08:40

The Benefits of High Cholesterol

By Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD [Who is Dr Ravnskov? [www.ravnskov.nu]]

Yep, by the email address looks like it is the "other" Erling. New to this, hopefully I will soon get the names correct.

Hi Valli, there's only one Erling and he's a big fan of Uffe Ravnskov, an outstanding scientist/physician, so when he said high CHOLESTEROL might help me live longer, that lowering it might be bad, and that "Saturated fat is good for you"*, I paid full attention, eat eggs and butter and cheese and quit fussing about "my numbers" entirely!! Of course, the doctors don't like that one bit - they've been conned into selling deadly STATINS!

But Erling could never have said that high BLOOD PRESSURE is good !!

Erling

* 'Saturated fat is good for you' by Uffe Ravnskov, MD, PhD: [www.spacedoc.com]

Erling,

Got it. Made a typo, should not read "high blood pressure", but "high cholesterol". Low blood pressure I have!

Ok - Why would Erling think someone's cholesterol would go up from a normal range to "high" range? What contributes to this change?

Thank you, Erling.

Hi Valli,

Ah - the mysteries of the body's control mechanisms - homeostasis - for substances it must have and must regulate. Could it perhaps have sensed a need for more raw material for hormone synthesis, so it cranked up cholesterol production? This article* might shed some light, but personally I wouldn't be concerned about it - and would always want to be well educated on the subject so not to be "cholesterol conned". Please do read Dr. Malcolm Kendrick's article (another hero) 'Dr. Malcolm Kendrick M.D. looks at Cholesterol': [www.spacedoc.com], also 'The Great Cholesterol Con'** and 1 minute video at [www.spacedoc.com].

* 'Cholesterol' [en.wikipedia.org] (scroll down to 'Regulation of cholesterol synthesis')

** Dr. Kendrick's eye-opening book: [www.amazon.com]
(also a forum topic: <[www.afibbers.org];

Erling

Valli -

William Campbell Douglass II, MD, another hero for health and truth, says:

"All that really matters is your TOTAL cholesterol. If it’s between 200 and 300, you don’t need to waste a moment sorting the “good” from the “bad."

[douglassreport.com]

Read his bio at [douglassreport.com].

Erling

Erling,

Thank you. I have started reading the material you emailed, starting with "The Benefits of High Cholesterol"

From many years looking at this cholesterol/statin business without prejudice or preconceived ideas of where it would lead -- I'm much too rational- minded by nature -- there have been many memorable from-the-heart comments by outstanding researchers, such as this from Malcolm Kendrick, M.D. in his book The Great Cholesterol Con*:

In a world dominated by PR controlled spin, critics of the cholesterol theory get very little airtime. If they did, this world would change, and I hope this book starts the process of change. Because, despite my apparent joviality, I am deadly serious in my belief that the misguided war against cholesterol, using statins, represents something very close to a crime against humanity. So close that you may not be able to spot the difference.

'The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It' by Malcolm Kendrick, MD (2008).

There are many free pages and reviews at [www.amazon.com]

Book: The Great Chokesterol Con

Book Description: (amazon.com)

Statins are the so-called "wonder drugs" widely prescribed to lower blood cholesterol levels that claim to offer unparalleled protection against heart disease. Many experts claim that they are completely safe and that they are also capable of preventing a whole series of other conditions. This groundbreaking study exposes the truth behind the hype surrounding statins and reveals a number of crucial facts, including that high cholesterol levels do not cause heart disease; that high-fat diets—saturated or otherwise—do not affect blood cholesterol levels; and that for most men and all women the benefits offered by statins are negligible at best. Other data is also provided that shows that statins have many more side affects than is often acknowledged. This hard-hitting survey also points a finger at the powerful pharmaceutical industry and an unquestioning medical profession as perpetrators of the largely facetious concepts of “good” and “bad” cholesterol that are designed to convince millions of people to spend billions on statins. With clarity and wit, this appeal to common sense and scientific fact debunks common assumptions on what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and diet, as well as the idea that there is a miracle cure for heart disease.

Erling,

I have read all the links both you and Jackie have fowarded to me. I just purchased on Amazon, The Great Cholesterol Con. My MD (OD) has not mentioned "statins", but wants me to look at my diet, and cut out more of my carbs, and take off the 10 pounds I gained this year.

Unfortunately we have a society that feeds the Pharmaceutical industry by wanting a quick fix!

Thanks again.