I had some blood work done last week and my results came back Cholesterol-HIGH. LDL-147-HIGH. HDL-57, total-204. I was so disappointed Everything else was good (glucose, etc) but I thought surely I wouldn't be in the high category. I've been on this WOE since mid last year. Has anybody else gotten a similar result with their blood work, even after being on Atkins for quite a while?

I have been delaying to get my second testing done for the very reason you are concerned
I don't want the doctor telling me that my diet is not reducing my levels and to get off of the diet
I will wait a bit longer
<<<chicken

Actually, your results aren't so bad. My results were very similar awhile back, and my doctor was extremely pleased that my HDL was high (as is yours). Your total is just out of the normal range (<200). I think mine was 202. He said to keep up what I was doing! You probably need to discuss it with your doctor, though, if you already haven't. They nurse always calls me with my results, and all she does is relay information, so I get no feedback!

Don't bet the barn on ONE test. There are so many variables....including calibration of the machine at the lab. Or just like weight, it can go up and down with no real reason....just the day! I wouldn't sweat it!

Thanks, I was so disappointed in myself. Then I started thinking, if it's still high and this WOE lowers it, what in the world was it at before. Also, I do smoke and I know that plays a bit factor in cholesterol.

This is a very disturbing NYT article, suggesting docs are rethinking how important "good cholesterol" really is. We need to pay attention to this, I think.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/health/15HEAR.html?hp

I agree it is an important article and thanks for posting.

I suspsect this is part of the campaign by pharma to get Dr.s to prescribe statins to every human being on the planet. My concern about that is that they really don't understand jack about the risk of lowering cholesterol levels to that range.

This article is basically the view of one collection of Dr.s that HDL may not be all it is cracked up to be. This follows on release last week that guggested that patients with heart problems and LDL> 100 should be prescribed statins (and Lipitor in particular) as a matter of course. Cholesterol is need by every cell in the body, and the Dr.s don't understand the long term impact of sustained use of statins to lower LDL into such ranges.

The implication of this article, however, is that the ratios of total/HDL and LDL/HDL are not so important as they first were thought. That is contrary to DANDR, Protein Power, etc.

I did mine last month and it came out to 201 Two years ago I was taking Zocor to lower it, now I think I'm doing pretty good without it!

Hi Jen7416---
I'm sorry about your test and I hope you're not too disappointed. When I started this way of eating/life I had naturally high cholesterol. I remember being somewhere around 270 (I'm only 24). Anyways, after about three months I got checked again and found out I was up to 300....I was shocked and upset, but my "good cholesterol" was up and my "bad" was down. I decided to wait another 3-4 months and try again.

I stuck to the program like crazy, but I'm not going to lie....I did consider the amount of fat and calories in certain foods. I gave up my beloved bacon and stuck to non-processed very lc foods. Looking back I realize I just started to eat "right." I eat tons of lean chicken, mix whole eggs with egg whites, but I still treat myself to a really good steak once a week. My cholesterol went down after about another 3 months of waiting to 230. Sticking with the program, but carefully really made all the difference.

Don't give up! Good Luck and definitely try again in another couple of months.
Jenn

yes, my cholesterol went from 171 (oct 02) to 207 this month, with a ldl of 144. I have to get re-tested in 3 months. I know 207 isn't that high, but for me it is. I'm 48 & my cholesterol has always been in the 160's. I don't really understand why b/c I really don't eat bacon or sausage. I probablly don't eat as much fat as I'm supposed to. I definatelly don't eat as many veggies and fruit as I used to. I leaned more to the vegetarian side with a little meat. I've also cut back on my red wine, b/c of the carbs, but I think I'm going to try having my nightly glass or 2 and see if that helps. I'm not that concerned, unless it's higher when I get re-tested.

Major risk factors that affect your LDL goal according to the following article:

http://www.healthnewsflash.com/cond...cholesterol.php

Cigarette smoking is among them.

sydnarella, thanks for the article. According to my "Framingham Point Scores by Age Group" my 10 year risk is lesss that 1%, I scored a 7. Now if I can just show my doctor the risk chart, haha.

if you are concerned about your cholesterol you may want to check out

http://www.ravnskov.nu/cholesterol.htm

Jen,

What were your numbers before you started LCing? Maybe they ARE down. Maybe they are the same. They really aren't that bad. My friends son had high cholesterol when he was a toddler. Just runs in the family. My mil eats saw dust, low fat everything and takes the meds and still has high LDL, total in the 300s. No heart problems though and she's 79.

The NY Times article was very interesting. Guess we'll have to wait awhile to see how much weight HDL is going to carry in the future.

Barb

Jen,
Do you exercise? Vigorously? A dietician once told me that exercise is a bigger factor in controlling serum cholesterol levels than diet.
Peach