WHAT’S THIS TEST? Cholesterol (lipid profile)
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This blood test measures your total cholesterol as well as analysing your “good” and “bad” cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
You may have the test at your GP surgery, or in hospital after a heart attack.
If your results are abnormal, statins can lower your cholesterol, in particular targeting bad cholesterol, to reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
The test checks if your medication is effective in lowering your bad cholesterol levels, and the dose is adjusted as necessary.
Many people only need their cholesterol checking once a year, but more often if the cholesterol is very high. Lifestyle changes are essential too.
Magnificent Leeds Castle in Kent has been owned by six queens of England since 1278, and yet I’ve still never managed to visit.
I hope to put that right this year, especially after seeing this oil painting by Karen Bryant, who lives nearby in Maidstone.
The 59-year-old says:
“I love to work with all mediums, but I used oils for this painting of Leeds Castle. I love to visit in all seasons and felt inspired to paint it and the surrounding grounds.
“I shop for my parents and without fail every week, they give me Daily Mirror cuttings of your art
Karen gallery. I hope I stand a chance of appearing as it would really brighten my parents’ day.”
■ If you are an amateur photographer or artist and you would like your work to hang in our gallery, send your work, a selfie, your age and location, and tell us what inspires you. You can email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.
Dear Coleen
I met my partner in November 2019, things progressed quickly and he moved into my place a year ago. He’d been divorced 18 months before we got together and it was acrimonious – she’d been having an affair – and they hated each other at the end.
But he insisted he was ready to be in a relationship with me and I was crazy about him.
However, now I constantly feel like a rebound partner – someone to offload on about his ex.
He refers to their marriage all the time and uses it as an excuse for not doing things with me. Once bitten, twice shy!
He’s already said he’ll never marry again, which I’m not hung up on, but I’m sick of being punished for his last relationship.
I’ve told him I want a break to think about things and he’s not happy. I just don’t know if it’ll ever work until he gets his ex out of his system. Can you help?
Coleen says
Ah, the Ex Factor! I totally understand why you don’t want your relationship to be a bridge to help him heal and move on to his next relationship. I always think it’s a good idea to take a break from relationships after a painful break-up to give yourself a chance to get over it and to get to know yourself again and what you want. Maybe he thought 18 months was long enough, but it sounds as if he’s still carrying a lot of baggage.
I think a break can be a positive thing – it might make him think about what he’s got to lose and appreciate that you’re not his ex and your relationship won’t be the same, and you deserve to start your time together with a clean slate.
If it’s what you want then insist on it, and try to help him see that it could help your relationship in the long term, especially as you met and moved in together quite quickly.