Another question concerning Cholesterol

[Braveheart]

Hi everyone,

Background:

Next Tuesday I am to have some blood taken to check my cholesterol. I have to fast 14hrs before apparently (what a bore!!). They want to check my cholesterol because a month ago when I had my INR checked at the hospital they noticed the blood plasma looked cloudy or something and recommended a cholestrol check. I first noticed I had high cholestrol 3 years ago when I was age 30. When they admitted me and discovered I had a severely leak aortic valve, the routine blood work they do showed a high cholestrol and raised tryglycerides. I was told because of my two aortic aneurysms to watch my diet and keep the cholestrol down, because apparently cholestrol can weaken the aneurysm wall or something. I had the valve replaced and two aneurysms repaired. I was told the two single most important factors for the rest of my life are a) maintaining a near normal blood pressure (i'm on Atenolol and ACE Inhibitors) and b) watching my diet, low fat. Well as time has passed i've become less strict on my diet. Recently my cardiologist told me that people with my particular congenital heart condition (Coarctation of Aorta) are at a higher risk of developing Coronary Heart Disease. The last thing I want on top of my structural heart abnormalties is 'furring up' of my coronary arteries.

So, here's the questions:

a) What is a normal Cholesterol reading? is it 600?

b) What exactly are tryglycerides?

c) Can exercise affect Cholesterol?

d) Does alcohol consumption affect Cholesterol? I know chips do! Oh..sorry 'fries', we call them chips over here..LOL.

e) Finally, does Cholesterol have any affect on the INR or Coumadin interfere with Cholesterol?

Sorry for rambling and thanks for any help/advice you can impart.

Have a nice weekend break!

Jonathan

Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Aortic Valve & Root Replacement (CarboMedics 27mm CarboSeal).
2 Aortic Aneurysm Resections using Goretex conduits
Coarctation of Aorta Repair aged 17 (1985)
3 cardiac catheters and TEE

 

[Gail in Ca]

Looking at my husbands latest lab slip
the cholsterol total should be less than 200.
HDL(good) more than 35 and LDL(bad)less than 130.
The hdl and ldl tells you alot. Mine was close to 200, which is on the high end of normal, but my good hdl was very high and the bad ldl was very low so my doc just said don't eat a steak every day and that type of stuff.
I know exercise lowers it if done regularly. A glass of red wine is supposed to be good for the arteries somehow. I think even taking metamucil lowers it.
A lot of cholesterol is genetic disposition and diet, too. My brother in law used to eat eggs every day and his total was 130! Go figure.
Gail

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi jonathan!
based on the lab results taken when i applied for insurance:
cholesterol s/b 120-240 (naturally the low end is preferable, under 200)
hdl : 25-75 (preferable over 40)
ldl : 60-190 (low end pref., < 100)
triglycerides: 10-200 (low end pref, <150)
cholesterol/hdl ratio: 1.50-5.00 (low end pref.)

i'm not sure exactly of the difference between cholesterol and triglycerides, but my dad, who had heart disease and double bypass (along with his avr) had high triglycerides way before his cholesterol was high. this,according to dr's back then, put him at risk for coronary heart disease.

i think gail is very right in that cholesterol is genetic. joey's tends to hover around 200, although his hdl is very high (so they don't worry so much). mine is extremely low. we eat the exact same things.
exercise definitely helps elevate your hdl. in fact, i had a talk with my cardio and he wanted to know what i was doing differently that made mine go even higher. i told him that i was running more mileage and doing a lot less weight lifting. i wonder if it was the increased cardio?

red wine has been shown to elevate hdl as well (ofcourse, in moderation_ a glass a day or so).
there are other things that help too; i think i read that grape juice is good.

my brother has high cholesterol (my dad too) and he went on a strict diet for 3 months to see if he could change it. also, he increased his running mileage a lot. his dr was curious to see if it would help and ..bingo!! his cholesterol dropped 20 points and he lost about 15 lbs !!! (pritikin??)

hope this has helped you.
please feel free to email me anytime about this, my family has dealt with it forever and i'd be happy to ask them for you.

be well,
sylvia

 

[Peachy]

Hi Jonathan

I got my cholestoral level checked. I was curious as to whether it was normal or not. My reading was 4.3. The Dr said that anything below 5 was excellent. Not quite sure how the figures relate to the ones you mention. Not sure about the rest of your points. I just try to make sure that I don't eat too many fatty foods. Take care.