Cholesterol? Not sure where to post this ...

[Perfectly_Imperfect]

Not sure which forum to post this in but I had a cholesterol test done in June of '10 and my total was 202 (I don't know the HDL, LDL or Trigl from that test) ...
I just had another test done and now the total is 208, HDL 39, LDL 141 and Trigl 140

I'm a 28 yr old female, 5'3" approx 138lbs, no serious family history of heart problems, my maternal grandmother had heart problems but not til her high 60's ... maternal grandfather died of a heart attack in his 60's ... and paternal grandfather had a heart attack in his 60's too.

I have not really changed my died since the last test so I don't know why it went up ... about 1 1/2 months ago I started trying to walk briskly on the treadmill at least 30 minutes a day and really starting to watch what I eat but the Dr. said that wouldn't be enough time to show on the test results yet.

Is this something I need to be concerned with? We are going to start trying for a baby in 6 months and I don't want to have to stress :-(

[erijon]

Your numbers are not too far off. Your LDL should be under 130 and TGL's under 150 so they're good, but your HDL is too low at 39, it really should be over 50 for a female your age. In case you don't know, HDL is used to bind with the bad cholesterol (LDL) and return it to your liver to be recycled or eliminated. This keeps it from building up on your artery walls. When your HDL is low and you LDL is high, you have excess LDL in your blood that could become plaques in your arteries over time.

Raising HDL is not too hard, exercise works best which you are already doing. Speak to your doctor about a reasonable exercise program for your needs, as much depends on what your exercise level is. For example, I just got done doing 60 mins at 4 mph and and incline of 9 which comes out to approx 10 mets for me. 30 mins at say 3 mph (considered brisk) may not be enough effort to make rapid changes as you're only doing about 5 mets at most so it depends on what level your at as far as how quickly you'll see results.

Also, you may want to ask your doctor about Niacin, it also increases HDL very quickly, but does have side effects.

The numbers are nothing to panic over, but should e a wake up call to get yourself on the road to lower numbers.

Hope this helps,

Jon

[Perfectly_Imperfect]

I looked this up on the Mayo Clinic website and my Trig are perfect but my HDL and LDL are borderline high ... I'm attempting to manage it now with exercise and diet change but it's only been a month since I really started trying this new diet/exercise.

[ed34]

Personally I don't see any problems with your cholesterol levels. Your trigs are a tiny bit high, but you are certainly lower than the UK average. In fact, you are not far short of the targets aimed for by CAD victims here. Have you managed this without medication?