Does my cholesterol mean I need statins?
I HAD a cholesterol blood test and my results were: 6 total cholesterol, 4 good cholesterol and 2.1 for the bad type. What does this mean? Should I consider statins? I am a 67-year-old woman.
CHOLESTEROL is a fatty substance that accumulates in the arteries, and some types have been linked to heart disease.
Years ago, doctors used to consider only total levels of cholesterol when thinking about what was healthy.
Now we know that levels of both types – LDL and HDL – are important, and looking at the specific amounts of the two types gives us a more accurate picture of how cholesterol may affect the heart.
The good type of cholesterol is called
HDL and the bad LDL.
For a woman, an HDL level of above 1.2 is considered healthy. For a man, it’s above 1.
Healthy levels of LDL are below 3 for both men and women. In order to work out the level of risk, doctors compute the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL. In your case, this works out as 1.5, which is a very good, low result. Less than 4 is healthy.
When it comes to recommending statins, levels of HDL and total cholesterol are assessed alongside a host of other risk factors to calculate what’s known as your QRisk score. They include age, blood pressure, blood sugar and many others.
You could first consider non-drug treatments such as exercise and diet, including eating more cholesterol-lowering foods like oats and soya.
Knowing your cholesterol level is just as important as knowledge of other risks such as blood pressure and weight. Working to improve all of these risk factors can help to prevent heart disease. IN THE past 12 months I have found it difficult to write or complete household tasks without shaking. It lessens as I continue writing. It’s embarrassing if someone asks me to sign something. Should I see my GP?
THIS sounds like something called a tremor which can be the sign of a serious, underlying condition. Doctors assess the potential cause of a tremor based on what you’re doing when it strikes. For some people, it appears when you hold a position – such as arms outstretched. For others, it comes on when they’re not doing anything. We call this a resting tremor. Resting tremors are typical in people with Parkinson’s disease.
Shakiness sparked by an activity could be a sign of a neurological illness such as multiple sclerosis or a disease within the brain. Sometimes it is a side effect from medication, or thyroid disease.
It could also be anxiety, or a sign of nothing at all.
With any shaking it is vital to visit your GP for blood tests to rule out serious illness. If no underlying illness is found, treatment will depend on how much you feel the tremor is affecting your life.