Cholesterol Test - Help!

[LSmith]

If that is true-why has heart disease( and cancer and diabetes) SKYROCKETED since our diet moved from being heavy on pasture raised meats, full fat dairy,homebakd bread, eggs and bacon for breakfast daily but limited sugars and processed anything to one of low fat meats,low fat or reduced fat dairy, fewer eggs and more sugars,processed carbs,processed everything and "heat healthy" soy soy and more soy? And why do the levels of peple on protein heavy diets ( im not a fan of them just aking a quesion) improve so much?

Most diets are still based on animal products. It doesn't matter if your meat is free range. It doesn't matter if your dairy is low fat. Watch Forks Over Knives and then get back to me. These are the experts.

 

[Bilberry]

Hi all.

Odd situation. I had my 1st physical with my new GP this past Monday. Everything went OK, but she had some bloodwork done on me and my cholesterol (triglicerides specifically) were very high. I hadn't fasted before hand, and everything I've read says that not fasting can seriously spike the numbers up. Now, my doctor won't reorder another test for me.

Is there any place to go where you can walk in and get your cholesterol checked without your doctor's ordering it? I want to make sure my results are accurate and I'm not flipping out for no reason.

There are a couple items you might look into that come to mind. Most drug stores sell home testing triglyceride tests called CardioChek made by Polymer Technology. The tests are not as accurate as provided at hospitals, but results are close.

If you want to arrange your own testing, same as what is used at the hospital you can call Direct Labs. I've used Direct Labs a few times and they were great.

http://www.directlabs.com/

Another sight you might find of assistance is Dr. Davis's. He is a prevention cardiologist, specializing in ways to detect heart disease, and using diet, supplements and drugs when necessary to address risk issues. He writes about his work providing prevention strategies that have worked for his patients at:

http://blog.trackyourplaque.com/

Best of luck.

 

[tvguy]

I was told to eat more fruit.

I was told apples only, because the fiber in them slows digestion of the sugar. Every other kind of fruit just has too much sugar for me. Sad given I have 4 orange trees!

 

[jsmith]

Our life expectancies have also skyrocketed. So what's better, dying younger without heart disease, cancer and diabetes, or living longer and getting heart disease cancer and diabetes?

might want to fact check the reason for that-much of it is due to lower infant mortality rates and eradication of things like typhus, yellow fever,typhoid, measeles, diptheria, and polio ect do to better sanitation and vaccination not lcow fat high carb diets.

LSmth-do a fact check-all animal fat is not created equally and you are what you eat. the Forks over Knives folks are one set of "experts" with one view point-not one shared by all. Heart disease,autoimmune disease and some cancers are functions of affluent countries where more processed food is consumed, and were 'low fat' is a watch word-and the thing most of those diets have in common with each other and not with more primative and more traditional diets is much muh increased consumption of 'empty' carrbs and more specifically-large amouts of sugars used to replace the flavor lost when fat is removed from the diet. There is also sigifigant loss of metabolisation of certai fat soluable vitamins-D and K being the most prominant-that affect how the body uses and stores fats and the immune function.

 

[KDIPIAZZ]

I was told apples only, because the fiber in them slows digestion of the sugar. Every other kind of fruit just has too much sugar for me. Sad given I have 4 orange trees!

With diabetes, I used my glucometer to establish my own personal glycemic index.I limit myself to a 1/2 c of berries, or 1/2 a medium apple. Any other fruit, especially in the morning, which was my prime fruit time, raises my blood sugar more than the 10-15 points i find acceptable for a meal.

 

[tvguy]

might want to fact check the reason for that-much of it is due to lower infant mortality rates and eradication of things like typhus, yellow fever,typhoid, measeles, diptheria, and polio ect do to better sanitation and vaccination not lcow fat high carb diets.
.

With all due respect, those certainly will be factors for those us in our 50's now as we age, but most of the breakthroughs with those disease came after those who are in their 90's today were adults, and I suspect have had little impact on their life expectancies.

 

[tvguy]

With diabetes, I used my glucometer to establish my own personal glycemic index.I limit myself to a 1/2 c of berries, or 1/2 a medium apple. Any other fruit, especially in the morning, which was my prime fruit time, raises my blood sugar more than the 10-15 points i find acceptable for a meal.

Sounds like what my Doctor believes too.
I find diabetes confusing because so many of the people I have been around with diabetes keep their blood sugar at levels far higher than I would expect. A friends wife lived with severe diabetes for 20 years after it robber her of her sight. Minor illnesses for you and I would put her in the hospital, and a member of her family always had to stay with her to make sure the hospital staff didn't bring her blood sugar below 200, because she would got into a coma if it did. I guess that is contrary to what medical staff expect, but as her primary care physican put it, they weren't used to treating a paitent who had such severe diabetes for so long, and her body reacted in ways they didn't expect to blood sugar levels.

 

[sonofanarchy]

Just I should follow up with this just so everybody knows, trust your gut - Doctors aren't always right.

I finally convinced my GP to let me take the triglyceride test again with fasting.
Original level last week without fasting - 504.
New level this week with 12 hour fasting - 100.

That's not just a bit of a difference. That's HUGE!! That's the difference between VERY HIGH and NORMAL.

 

[Poohforyou]

Just I should follow up with this just so everybody knows, trust your gut - Doctors aren't always right.

I finally convinced my GP to let me take the triglyceride test again with fasting.
Original level last week without fasting - 504.
New level this week with 12 hour fasting - 100.

That's not just a bit of a difference. That's HUGE!! That's the difference between VERY HIGH and NORMAL.

It is huge but if I were you I'd be concerned that what I'm eating causes my triglycerides to rise that high.

 

[sonofanarchy]

It is huge but if I were you I'd be concerned that what I'm eating causes my triglycerides to rise that high.

Not in the least bit concerned about why they were that high. I know why. I didn't fast for 12 hours. It was the Uncrustables and the whole milk. If anyone had eaten that right before the test, their levels would have spiked. I read about a guy who ate a Big Mac and his levels spiked 900 points.

Don't get me wrong, I am going to try and eat better, only because I want to. However, I am absolutely NOT going to worry about what I am eating. If you go to take a drug test and you just smoked a joint, the test will come back positive. Doesn't mean anything if you don't smoke on a regular basis.

The Triglyceride test results are accurate when you have fasted for 12 hours. I did, and the result was 100. Obviously, I don't have a triglyceride problem. As I stated further back in the thread, whatever you eat before the test can cause false results anywhere from 5 to 10 times what your levels are. In my case, it was exactly 5 times what my levels are.

 

[John VN]

Not in the least bit concerned about why they were that high. I know why. I didn't fast for 12 hours. It was the Uncrustables and the whole milk. If anyone had eaten that right before the test, their levels would have spiked. I read about a guy who ate a Big Mac and his levels spiked 900 points.

Don't get me wrong, I am going to try and eat better, only because I want to. However, I am absolutely NOT going to worry about what I am eating. If you go to take a drug test and you just smoked a joint, the test will come back positive. Doesn't mean anything if you don't smoke on a regular basis.

The Triglyceride test results are accurate when you have fasted for 12 hours. I did, and the result was 100. Obviously, I don't have a triglyceride problem. As I stated further back in the thread, whatever you eat before the test can cause false results anywhere from 5 to 10 times what your levels are. In my case, it was exactly 5 times what my levels are.

Your choice as to how you eat is entirely up to you and you should be comfortable with it. I think what some are suggesting is that good food choices will result in good results whether fasting or not providing there are no other issues happening.

I recently had blood work done. The day before testing I ate as usual and ate I a big breakfast 3 hours before the samples were taken. Triglycerides were 55. While the 100 is good for fasting, the spike you had with the first test would indicate the consumption of products before the first test were not the best to have eaten.

 

[Robbi]

Not in the least bit concerned about why they were that high. I know why. I didn't fast for 12 hours. It was the Uncrustables and the whole milk. If anyone had eaten that right before the test, their levels would have spiked. I read about a guy who ate a Big Mac and his levels spiked 900 points.

Don't get me wrong, I am going to try and eat better, only because I want to. However, I am absolutely NOT going to worry about what I am eating. If you go to take a drug test and you just smoked a joint, the test will come back positive. Doesn't mean anything if you don't smoke on a regular basis.

The Triglyceride test results are accurate when you have fasted for 12 hours. I did, and the result was 100. Obviously, I don't have a triglyceride problem. As I stated further back in the thread, whatever you eat before the test can cause false results anywhere from 5 to 10 times what your levels are. In my case, it was exactly 5 times what my levels are.

You're right. Our daughter has diabetes and has to test 4 times a day-3 of those are 2 hours after a meal. Just for the heck of it, a few times she tested right after eating. Her blood glucose was 175- 225. After waiting the prescribed amount of time, her levels dropped to 75-90.
As I posted earlier, for some reason doctors are dropping the acceptable numbers for cholesterol which means more people will be on meds- probably unnecessarily. This is according to our doctor.
Good for you being proactive!