High cholesterol

[kaelgart]

I am a 60 yr old grandmother in very good health.  I am a vegan vegetarian and do not eat any dairy, or meat (nothing with a face or mom).  I have never smoked, drank alcohol or coffee.  I have elliminated sodas, caffiene, refined flour and refined sugars from my diet.  I try to keep fat intake to under 20% .  I measure and weigh everything.  I am on a exercise program to be able to run 10K races.  I run and walk 3-7 miles per day 4 days a week and strength training on two days.  My heighth is 5'4", weight 141.0 lb, blood pressure 120/70.  My question is that my blood test are confusing even to my MD.  Total cholesterol was 274, LDL-193, HDL-62, VLDL-19, triglycerides-93, 12 hr. fasting diabetes - 91.  Family history - my mother has an irregular heart beat and is on a pace maker, and has adult onset diabetes due to her wieght.  Other than that no family history of heart failure, strokes, diabetes.  What could be causing the high numbers for cholesterol?  What could be my risk factors (my test said there are risks with a too high HDL also)?  Is there anything else I can do to lower my cholesterol other than prescribed medication (I will not take them).  Thank you for your time.  Kaelgart

[Lee Kirksey, MD]

Hello
Congratulations on living a life of health. I would encourage you to visit www.personalwellnesswheel.com to share your story with us for our next book
Regarding your labs. My first question is how were these changes related to menopause. I have seen very healthy living women who experience these changes do to hormonal alteration outside of their control

Additional labs might provide insight into the cause of your elevated total choles an LDL. These include Hgb A1c and insulin to assess insulin resistance (pre diabetes), thyroid functions studies and testosterone levels. I also describe on our website www.optimalhealthtoday.com (click cardiac risk testing) a cutting edge lipid analysis that fractionates your hdl, ldl and triglycerides to determine good and bad components. You may have elevated LDL and not have a predominance of the bad component

We describe a number of nontraditional medical therapies in our book Your Guide to Optimal Health. These include gugu lipids, red yeast rice, fish oil and Coenzyme Q10
Red yeast rice has shown to be beneficial for decreasing LDL

This type of evaluation will allow your doctor to assess your overall heart and stroke risk profile and treat you accordingly. Good Luck