The FastDay Forum

My sisters both suffer from genetically high cholesterol, "Familial hypercholesterolemia". I was apparently at 50 % risk of having the same problem, where medication would have been the only option. My wife got me to take a blood test, it seems I was lucky with the coin flip this time.


P-Kolesterol (PKOLN)
5,8 mmol/L
reference range 3.3-6.9 mmol/L

fP-Triglycerider (PTGN)
0,72 mmol/L
reference range 0.45-2.6 mmol/L

P-HDL-kolesterol (PHDLN)
2,24 mmol/L
reference range 0.80-2.1 mmol/L

P-LDL-Kolesterol (PLDLDN)
2,68 mmol/L
reference range 1.4-4.7 mmol/L

S-IGF 1 (SIGF11)
125 µg/L
reference range 94-252 µg/L

I wish I had my blood tested before starting 5:2, and low carb.

The P-HDL is well above the reference range, can this be a problem or is it only a good thing as I've been told?

I don't know if I should be pleased with the IGF 1 result, but at least it's in the low range.

[carorees]

Hi Michael

Although most doctors consider that blood tests for cholesterol are a good indication of a person’s risk of heart disease and diabetes, recently the complexities of the many different types of cholesterol in our blood has begun to be appreciated. It is insanely complicated with various different measurements being put forward as the best way to measure risk. One which is often used is the ratio between total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein (HDL, sometimes called ‘good cholesterol’). A ratio of HDL:total cholesterol of under 3.5 is thought to be a suitable target. Other research suggests the ratio of triglycerides to HDL cholesterol might be a good measure. While there is so much confusion about what blood tests are best, it is hard to advise whether measuring blood cholesterol has any value for predicting heart disease risk.

Regarding IGF-1: one of the key potential benefits of intermittent fasting is that it may reduce the levels of IGF-1. IGF-1 appears to be linked with an increased risk of cancer and it is hoped that lowering IGF-1 levels will reduce that risk. Lowering protein intake and restricting calorie intake have been shown to reduce IGF-1 levels. Intermittent fasting seems to have the same effect as restricting calorie intake, but if your protein intake is high that can prevent IGF-1 levels from falling. IGF-1 values vary greatly between individuals and normally decreases with age. What level of IGF-1 is acceptable from the point of view of reducing cancer risk is uncertain but cancer seems to occur more frequently in those whose IGF-1 levels are higher. Further, it seems that certain genetic variants in IGF-1 carry greater risk than others. Conversely, very low levels of IGF-1 are associated with frailty in the elderly, so it could be that there is a level that is too low as well as one that is too high. Because of all these uncertainties, testing IGF-1 levels is not particularly helpful in indicating your risk of cancer.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that it is very hard to interpret your test results!

Hmm.., tricky.

Anyway, I found this calculator, http://www.hughcalc.org/chol-si.php


Your Total Cholesterol of 5.80 is BORDERLINE

Your LDL of 3.23 is NEAR OPTIMAL

Your HDL of 2.24 is OPTIMAL

Your Triglyceride level of 0.72 is NORMAL

RATIOS:

Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.59 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL

Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 0.693 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL

Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.736 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL

But as you said, what all this means to my health would be hard to tell I guess.