Blood work
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Just got my bloodwork done - I never really looked into the detail before because the readings are thankfully in the normal range.
But - it seems like the conventional thinking on lipids has been changing.
Seems like total high cholesterol is not necessarily bad. Triglyceride to HDL ratio is the best predictor of heart disease, and even LDL (bad fat) isn't necessarily bad either. Only a subset of it (dense LDL) is bad.
Would love to hear from people who have been paying attention for longer than me.
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LDL-C is the one to concentrate on.
Most labs, when running a lipid profile, do a total cholesterol, triglycerides and a HDL, then use a Friedewald calculation for the LDL. You can measure it directly, and some docs do, if there are abnormal lipid levels.
Desired levels used to be one size fits all (kinda), but that has become more overall risk specific. Aneat calculator:
https://tools.acc.org/ascvd-risk-estimator-plus/#!/calculate/estimate/
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My husband's doctor focuses on the ratio as well. He would say 'well this is high and this is high...But your ratio is good so I won't put you on medication just yet. Come see me in 6 months.' This had been going on for years. About 4 years ago, the doctor finally said "Okay, I'll see you in a year". My husband is still not on any medication.
