Hi! I'm a 28 year old female, whose been having some health issues lately. It started in October of last year with a strange head pressure. It went on from there. But, this post is about my recent lab results. I finally found a doctor to listen to me, and she requested A LOT of bloodwork. I found out that I have a high Chol/ LDL ratio of 4.86 (I know, horrible!!!) and I'm freaking out.
My lipid panel is this:
Total LDL: 115
LDL: 103
Lp(a): 3
IDL: 9
Total HDL: 35
HDL2: 7
HDL3: 28
Total VLDL: 19
VLDL 1+2: 8.0
VLDL3: 11
Total Cholesterol: 170
Triglycerides: 101
I know that my good cholesterol is low, which stinks, but my question is... or I guess what I'm worried about is having a heart attack or developing heart disease. My doctor said that she doesn't want to put me on medication at this point, b/c she believes that I can change this drastically with diet/ exercise. I'm really concerned, b/c for most of my life, when standing for too long (i.e. showering, doing dishes, etc.) I get really spotchy legs (purple, and orangish splotches on my thighs and knees). I'm assuming this is a circulation problem, and I'm wondering if this is good indication of some sort of blockage that I already have. It happens in both legs.
So, I guess I'm just curious if I'm a HA waiting to happen... and if diet and exercise will be sufficient to helping me get my HDL up??? I also have a ton of other lab results if you'd like some more information. And, are there any blood tests that actually give an idea of how your heart/ muscles are functioning??? Thank you so much for your help. Have a great day.