cholesterol and cardiac cath

i jsut got my cholesterol back and although my total was 148  tri's were 52 and ldl was 101  my hdl was only 37.. I asked my doctore why they would not do a cardiac cath on me and he said no doctor would because I am 37 years old and fall under a low risk category.. with an hdl that low how can he feel confident in saying i probably do not have heart disease yet

[erijon]

He is correct, you are low risk and the possible benefits of a cath to not off set the risk of complications, it is a very invasive procedure. You should Google Framingham Risk Calculator and you can input your information and show you what risk you fall under.

Yes your HDL is low, but only by 3 points. You can easily get that up by stepping up your physical activity. Also, you LDL is low, well under the recommended 130. You need to understand the role HDL plays, it binds with LDL to eliminate it from your system. so if your LDL is low a slightly low HDL is not that big of a risk factor.
I certainly would not ask for a cath at your age over those cholesterol numbers. If you're having symptoms I would start with a nuclear stress test and see how that comes out first.

Hope this helps,

Jon

[tan1225]

i only symptom i really have is being tired and sometimes i get dizzy at work..... but i have had the dizziness on and off for many years.. its not even really dizziness its more off balance....  but now i am not sleeping good at night and i do not know if its because i am worried...   they say a womens should be over 50 so mine is 13 points under.. i was eating a lowfat diet and more carbs .. i wasn't eating any omega 3's fish nuts or anything like taht...  

[erijon]

Sorry, you are right, as a woman it should be over 50, hoverer your LDL is also low, they cancel each other out to some degree. I don't know of any cardiologist that would go directly to a cath. Normally they are only done after someone fails a stress test, either normal or nuclear. Your symptoms don't sound like the are cardiac in nature, your doctor must feel the same way if he is not sending you for a stress test.

Again, the upside of finding something on a cath for someone with your risk profile does not outweigh the risk of an invasive procedure like a cath. Perhaps you should push for a stress test and take it from there.

good luck!

Jon