Johnny's Report Card

Well my lab results of my Lipid Profile are back. Here's what they say:

Lipid panel:
   cholesterol, total               173  mg/dl         <200    (GOOD!)
   HDL cholesterol               37  mg/dl            >39    (CLOSE!)
   cholesterol/hdl ratio           4.68                 <5.00 (GOOD!)
   LDL cholesterol, calculated   (can not be calculated when the
triglyceride exceeds 400 mg/dl).
   triglyceride                        712  mg/dl         <150>(BAD!)

So, my overall cholesterol is well within the recommended limits. My "good" HDL is close to the recommended minimum of 39, but my Triglycerides are very high.

The National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines for triglycerides are:

• Normal Less than 150 mg/dL
• Borderline-high 150 to 199 mg/dL
• High 200 to 499 mg/dL
• Very high 500 mg/dL or higher
• These are based on fasting plasma triglyceride levels (I was fasting for 12 hrs).

Current recommendations are to keep the triglycerides well below
500mg/dL, and low enough to reduce your VLDL to safe levels. Your VLDL
level is considered safe if it plus your LDL level are no higher
together than 130mg/dL. Doctors do not routinely measure VLDL, but if
you subtract your HDL cholesterol from your total cholesterol, you can
get the LDL plus VLDL sum.

So in my case, total cholesterol less HDL is (173-37) or 136. So I'm close on total VLDL+LDL, but the Tri's are way out of the safe range.

Triglyceride levels are very sensitive to diet, exercise, and health habits. It is common to have high triglycerides if you are overweight, if you are physically inactive, if you drink alcohol or smoke, or if you consume a high-fat and high-carbohydrate diet, particularly if your carbohydrates are not whole-grain foods. Triglycerides are also elevated in people with diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid disease, and certain inherited cholesterol problems. High triglycerides are one sign of the metabolic syndrome, a collection of health risks that indicate a very high risk of heart disease. It is important for you to be tested for diabetes and to have your blood pressure evaluated, because these are other features of the metabolic syndrome.

It is possible to substantially improve triglycerides by increasing your exercise and sharply cutting the amount of saturated fat and rapidly absorbed carbohydrates (processed flours or simple sugars, including milk sugar) in the diet. You should substitute whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables, skim milk and reduced-fat foods wherever possible. Medications are also available to lower triglycerides, including statins, gemfibrozil (Lopid), fenofibrate (Tricor), niacin, and omega-3 fatty acids.

In the last post I mentioned the recommendations for lowering Triglycerides.

In my case, I'm eating pretty well, getting 3-5 intense workouts each week, taking Omega-3 fish oil caplets (yuk), and tearing up the produce department. So I think I have two causes left:

1. I have a hereditary disposition to high Triglycerides
2. I need to cut back or eliminate alcohol

I have an appointment with my PCP this week. We'll see what he says about all of this.