Hi all
I just got my results from my baseline blood tests (I restarted Atkins recently) and wanted to know if I've interpreted them correctly:

Total cholesterol 5.8
Triglycerides 1.0
HDL 1.20
LDL 4.0
Risk Ratio 4.4

The nurse at the surgery told me I need to cut down on fat in my diet because these numbers are slightly higher than they should be. I just kept schtum. She wants me to see a nutritionist.

My interpretation is that these numbers are ok except for the LDL which ideally should be slightly lower.

Would anyone comment please? Am I correct in my analysis?

Thanks
Sandra

Hi Sandra

Your cholesterol results look quite reasonable to me too. The HDL is good. My understanding is that LDL should be around 3.5, so there is a little work to do there, but if you've only recently gone back to low carbing then this should improve with time.

No point in going to a nutritionalist, unless they are up to date on the benefits of low carbing.

I would suggest you ask to have the numbers re done in 3 months time and, provided you low carb for all that time, then the numbers should be improved. I'd not be particularly worried about these. Next time the triglycerides and LDL values should be reduced which will bring the overall level down a little.

Hi Sandra,

I pretty much agree with everything Anne said.

The only thing I'd add is to have a read (if you haven't already) of the "sticky" thread, "Cholesterol, and understanding its numbers," at the top of this forum.

All the best!

Rosebud

Thanks for your replies Anne and Rosebud.

I'm glad you thought the same as me and that things weren't as bad as the nurse wanted me to think. I also thought the nutritionist was a bad idea unless I managed to find one who wasn't so attached to the food pyramid. In the town where I live it's still difficult to find people who believe the earth is round so I doubt that anyone has considered Dr. Atkins as a healthy alternative to the normal diet of fish 'n' chips and pies!

I had planned to get my tests redone in 3 months time to do a comparison. Thanks for that suggestion too.

I'm very relieved actually that you agree with my interpretation of my results as the doc's office managed to scare me stupid by refusing to tell me anything about my results except that I must speak to the nurse. As she is usually the one you see with "female trouble" I was worried that they may have done some tests I wasn't aware of and maybe "the rabbit died" or something like that! NOOOOOOOOOOO!

Thanks again
Sandra