4.2 is my cholesterol test , what does this mean ? Please help

4.2 isn't too bad really, and what you should be looking at is the ratio of "good" to "bad" cholesterol.  For example if you kept your diet the same, but added fish oils daily, your overall cholesterol will rise, but most of that rise should be due to a rise in your "good" cholesterol.  Also your triglycerides should have been measured, which again can be a different indicator of your cholesterol health. Make an appt with your GP, get all the figures and go and research.  Beware of just jumping into taking statins, as there is currently some debate as to wether they are benificial or not in some cases.  Again do your research.  If the GP is hell bent on putting you on statins, ask if you can have your heart and vascular health looked at first to define wether your arteries are "furring up" or not first.  I am at that stage and have been told to do that, but as to whether my GP will be as open to the idea or not is a different thing.... :-)

Hope that help :-) XG

Hi Anna, as glennigogs said 4.2 is good it is recomended to be below 5.2 but you must get a lipid profile so that you can determin if your hdl/ldl and triglycerides are in the right ratios, your hdl should be above 1.6mmol/l your ldl should be below 1.8 mmol/l and your triglycerides should be below 1.7 mmol/l so until you know your lipid profile don't worry. BMI is a guide but it does not take in to account lean mass over fat mass what this means is if you are fit and have a good amount of muscle which is heavier than fat you may still be considered over weight if you go by the BMI, your young and your going to the gym so that's in your favour, things you can do to help your lipid levels is eat oily fish, use cocnut oil when cooking, dress your salads with olive oil, eat lots of fresh vegetables try not to eat to much fruit as they contain loads of sugar which is another subject! I am a chef and a personal trainer and I also advise on nutrition, so when your in the gym do HITT sessions (high intensity Interval Training) this means short bursts of high output efforts with even shorter recoveries so if you do a spin session on a bike try this warm up for ten mins your rpm should be around 90-100 with a medium resistance gear then add some more gears so that you rpm drops to around 65 then do 15 seconds of hard effort 15 seconds recovery and repeat do five in total, spin easy for 2 on a low gear mins then add your gears and do 5 x 30seconds hard effort with 15 seconds recovery 2 mins recovery then 5 x 45 seconds hard effort with 20 seconds recovery  again 2 mins recovery and a final 5 x 1 min efforts with 30seconds recovery and the 10 mins spin down, yes it's hard but I can guarantee that not only will you become fitter you will improve your bodyfat percentages you will improve your bodies insulin response and sensitivity and you will also change your blood lipid profile, these sessions can be done on a treadmill/rowing machine too. You must lift weights too, please don't think that you will bulk up by liting weights you will have to do some serious lifting but you will improve your muscle tone, you will burn more calories and these will be derived from fat as well, your joints will become more stable and you will become stronger, I suggest you get some advice from a trainer in your gym on which exercises to do, also try reading the great cholesterol con it will open your eyes to the myth of cholesterol levels sorry lipid levels your don's actually have a cholesterol level! Read it!    

 

Your cholesterol is perfectly normal. In the overall scheme of things it is the very least of your worries.