What can be done for very low HDL? I'm a
30 yr old male, and had the following
cholesterol readings a year ago:
ldl: 153
hdl: 22
triglycerides: 74
I already ate fairly healthy, though at
220lb, needed to lose some weight. I've
lost 20 lbs, cut out any remaining
unhealthy eating habits, increased aerobic
excercise to 1hr at least 5days/wk. I
usually only eat meat once per week and
then typically poultry or fish. I eat the
recommended 5+ servings of a variety of
fruits and vegetables and nearly 100% of
my grains are whole grains. (helps a lot
to be a decent cook to eat like that
) A year
later, I had the following readings:
ldl: 131
hdl: 23
triglycerides: 122
There's perhaps another 15lb wieght to
lose, but I'm pretty close to being fairly
lean, I eat well, excersize, etc. I'm
going to acheive my remaining weight loss,
but my concern is that despite my efforts,
there's been almost no improvement in the
hdl numbers--that and the triglyceride
numbers got worse.
I'm also not excited about using drugs to
treat the cholesterol problem since that
seems to be my only choice after trying
diet, excersize, etc. I also don't smoke
and do not drink.
I know heredity can cause these things,
but I have no way of knowing or confirming
that since I'm adopted and do not know my
genetic parents/family. Is there anything
else to try that I'm not already doing?
On another note, my doctor ordered a
followup lipid panel. My cholesterol
results the first two times were from a
free health screening our HMO offers by
visiting our employer. They used an on
site meter to give a readout of the 3
lipid numbers from a small pipet blood
draw, but wanted to draw blood to confirm
the numbers after the most recent results.
Is there anything else a more traditional
lipid panel will tell you that the meters
will not? I'm still waiting the results
from the blood draw for the doctor's
followup test.
