I have decided (with the input of my doctor) that I have and always have had familial hypercholesterolemia. No matter what I eat or do, my cholesterol looks high from traditional, and I think totally wrong assumptions. I have always had really high HDL (good!!) until my last test last year. My HDL was 56 then, but for years it has been 80, 85, 90 or so. My triglycerides are reasonable and generally low, but the LDL is always horrendous. Just the LDL along last summer was 290 or some such. HOWEVER....I am able to get the VAP cholesterol test and that analyzes your LDL particle type. Mine are type A fluffy, which are ideal since this type doesn't clog arteries. I've just gone back on Atkins to lose 30 lbs, so I expect my odd test from last June to go back to what it usually is.

There is an interesting article somewhere about President Eisenhower, who had many heart attacks. His doctors believed in the old cholesterol theory that high cholesterol meant heart attacks and strokes, and they fed him an unbelievably restrictive diet that brough his cholesterol numbers down to an extremely low level. It didn't protect him, rather, he had a heart attack that killed him. So much for the old cholesterol theory. I don't buy into it and I don't worry about my situation because of the particle type I have. My doctor had originally tried to goad me into taking statins, but I refused. After the VAP test, my doctor reversed her position and said that since there wasn't heart disease in my family, not to worry, keep eating well to keep the particle size fluffy. For me, I do best eating Atkins....and no sugar, really really low carbs. I'm fairly certain my test last June was caused by how I had been eating....high carbs and lots of sugar. Duh....