What are *really* bad Cholesterol levels?
 

My buddy just got back from the doc and his was 455! He's 33 years old(and in great physical shape)and the doc said that was an office record.

Is it really that bad?

have your friend take the test again. 455 sounds off the charts.


the normal is 200... i was at 293 6 months ago and it was cause for concern.

Yea, he said the doc wigged out and he's scheduled for a ****load of tests and they put him on"their strongest stuff" right away.

Sounds like this is really bad. FWIW, heart problems run in his family.

Mine was 215 about 6 years ago. Now down to 162. 455 is not good. Do you know the ratio of good to bad cholesterol? They're finding that to be more important than just the numbers.

I just called him and he says it was under 50 for the good number.

Whew with 455, his blood must have the consistancy of Crisco.

Lets face it, it can happen at any time evn if its down to 162.

Man, that is bad.

At age 30, mine was 187, with the good being 70-something, IIRC. And I was working out a lot, yet ate like crap.

Wonder what it is now.

Mine was 310, now I'm taking Welchol and I have to have it rechecked...

304 bad,
77 good--
Have to go back to the doc in 3 months...I posted Holy Cholesterol thread a bit back--good info there.

I believe above 200 is considered elevated.

Very high lipid levels are possible in the blood, although most instances of REALLY high levels are due to diseases where you do not process your lipids correctly. I have seen blood where the lipids were so high that if you let the blood settle out you would have a whitish layer on the top after 20-30 minutes or so...

During cardiac surgery, when the patient is on cardiopulmonary bypass, the blood drains into a venous reservoir. If the cholesterol is extremely elevated you do indeed see a white layer on the surface of the blood. The highest I have seen is over 600, we had to do plasmapharesis on him to get it into a lower range, so he would not gunge up our artificial lung, which may cause it to fail.

I had mine checked before Christmas I found out how bad it was while in the Cardiac Care after my heart attack on Jan 2 of this year.
Seems it was 699 with the good at 60. I guess timing is everything. 1 artery 100% blocked and had 2 stents installed. I now take lots of meds but I"m back to work as a carpenter. I have been taking it easy but a big change in diet.

I feel great most times, but am worrird about the 80 mg of lipitor a day.

Larry

455 yes a bit high, are you sure that wasn't his triglycerides? If so, next question...did he fast 12-14 hours prior to having blood drawn, avoid alcohol, etc? People often confuse cholesterol and triglycerides.

Now all above is correct, he may be one of the few that are genetically disposed to high blood "fats".

Interesting comments on how the blood looks with high triglycerides. If the blood is seperated by centrifugation, the cells go to the bottom of the tube, and what is normally a straw like fluid (serum) is left on top. In those like your buddy, it has the appearance of milk. Makes for difficult analysis at times.

Good info, I'll call tomorrow and find out. His doctor did say that he set an office record though...would 455 triglycerides have a chance at a record?

Triglyceride levels.

Normal: Less than 150 mg/dL
Borderline High: 150-199 mg/dL
High: 200-499 mg/dL
Very High: 500 mg/dL or above

I am a cardiologist. The first thing you should make sure of is that this was a fasting blood sample. Then, is 455 a total cholesterol or an LDL level. LDL is a component of total cholesteral. Your target LDL would depend on what your other risk factors are (smoking, hypertension, diabetes or known coronary artery disease). Know CAD would be the worst, and you would target an LDL less than 100. Some research now suggests an LDL of less than 70 is better if you have known CAD.

However, either way, a Total Cholesterol or an LDL of 455 would be very high, suggesting possible familial hypercholesterolemia. If I had to guess, this was just a screening total cholesterol and not fasting. If you eat something like a cheeseburger just before the blood sample is taken, the number will be high and it does not necessarily indicate disease. Proper diet low in cholesterol would always be the first intervention. Statins, like lipitor, zocor, etc have been shown to prevent the occurence of a heart attack. The response to statins is very predictable. For instance, if the diet is unchanged, you can expect about a 34% reduction in LDL in about 6 weeks.

Stay healthy! I'd much rather see you prevent disease rather than ask someone like me to perform an angioplasty.:)