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25 years
Cholesterol total 215mg/dl + HDL Cholesterol 44mg/dl + Chol/HDL 4.9 + L D L 155 mg/dl. Are these results so bad ? how to improve them?
Apr 28, 2015

Dr. Zakia Dimassi Pediatrics
These lipid levels need some serious work to be brought to normal ranges. If you are overweight or obese, you must lose weight. You need to follow a strict dietary and exercise regimen, with a low-fat diet, mainly avoiding trans fats and saturated fats and alcohol, and stressing on healthy fats like polyunsaturated fats (omega 3 is crucial to boost HDL levels), in addition to starting a regular exercise program (a minimum of 30 Minutes of continuous exercise, at least 5 days per week). Exercise not only helps bring down the levels of LDL (low-density lipoprotein or the so called bad cholesterol), but also triggers a boost in the levels of HDL (high-density lipoprotein, also known as the good cholesterol). You are also advised to stop smoking in case you already smoke. It would be prudent in your case to take a fasting blood sugar level as well, especially if you have a strong family history of diabetes. Your perseverance and compliance with these measures are key to reach your goal normal lipid levels,mainly dropping the LDL to 100-120 and increasing the HDL to at least 60. A repeat lipid profile (including total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL) should be done in a few months to follow up on the progress. Should the above detailed measures fail to lead to improvement in the lipid levels despite applying them consistently, at that point it would be advisable to consult with a doctor to consider taking medications to control lipid levels.
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