General Chat

Just found out I suffer with this.......any advice...????

ooh Gawd Jules, did you get the wartime ration sheet diet? LOL

Vitality pre and probiotic lowered mine by three points. GP tried me with statins but stomache couldn't tolerate them so I went on to Vitality, also helps with high blood pressure.

Hi Taff.....

I had the 'Often, not so often, occasional n avoid sheet'...lol

But I want real advice..... Like.....nice things to eat that are ok, things that help reduce it, meal ideas that are good...

I eat loads of fruit n veggies anyway. The only things on the avoid list I like are pastries n coffee whitener...

:o)

HI May....what are Statins..??

oats, particularly oat bran is good at lowering cholesterol as are beans such as chick peas and soya

those little drinky yogurts gave me heartburn so i stopped them

got an excellent book too just looking for what it is called

Watch how much saturated fat you eat per day,keep below 20,most food packages tell you how much Sat's is in the food contains,


Have a look at this
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/html/cholesterol.html

Ok it is called the 8 week cholesterol cure, there is an 8 week cholesterol cure cook book that goes with it, in my opinion you need both to follow the program properly. Defiantly worth borrowing from the library at least

all depends on what's causing your high cholesterol - I've been on statins for over ten years now after being diagnosed with very high cholesterol - over 11 - I first asked to reduce it myself as I eat a lot of rich food - tried that for a month, cholesterol went up!!! Proved therefore that it wasn't to do with what I eat, it's a familial; thing - either or both of my parents would have had it, but they were never diagnosed. I have had no adverse reaction from statins - in fact my reading last month was 4.5 which is excellent. We've had two previous threads on statins recently

Hi Jules, statins are tablets to bring cholesterol down but the have bad side affects with some peeps, namely me for one, terrible stomach pains, left off having them for a week, OK, took them again more pain went back to GP who told me not to take any more.

Benacol yogurts---& they taste nice,infact all things Benacol!!!

Thank you all so much.....going to follow up on some of your advice :o)xx

Blue....have taken a look at the web link you gave me & have printed off the fact sheets to read, thank you :o)x

i have it too but have a good diet, my doc thinks it's gene's related , it isnt always caused by what we eat.

Hi Stella....that's right, I'm just reading about it, n they say that. I think both my parents suffer to be honest so may be that's where I get it from....

Tho I could do with losing abit of weight & increase my excercise & I do eat alot of 'Healthy ready meals'......ie. weigh watchers.

are they healthy tho' Jules? i try to keep away from processed food if i can , i know it isnt always easy!

Exactly Stella......they claim to be healthy but are Hi in Salts.....

When OH n daughter have things like curry, or lasagne or shepards pie etc... I tend to have a ready meal as it's easier to work out the points on the weight watchers program..!!

Not doing myself any favours really am I...??

Familial hypercholesterolemia is caused by a gene defect on chromosome 19. The defect makes the body unable to remove LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream. This results in consistently high levels of LDL in the blood, which leads to atherosclerosis at an early age.

The condition is typically passed down through families in an autosomal dominant manner. That means you only need to get the abnormal gene from one parent in order to inherit the disease. An individual who inherits one copy of the gene is considered "heterozygous."

In rare cases, a child may inherit the gene from both parents. Individuals who inherit both genes are considered "homozygous." Homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia is much more severe. Cholesterol levels may exceed 600mg/dL, greatly increasing the risk for heart attacks and heart disease.

Symptoms Return to top

Symptoms that may occur include:

Fatty, cholesterol-rich skin deposits (xanthomas)
Cholesterol deposits in the eyelids (xanthelasmas)
Chest pain (angina) associated with coronary artery disease
Obesity
Persons with two copies of the defective gene develop fatty skin deposits over their elbows, knees, buttocks, tendons, and around the cornea of the eye.

Exams and Tests Return to top

A physical examination may reveal fatty skin growths called xanthomas and cholesterol deposits in the eye (corneal arcus).

Other signs include:

A strong family history of familial hypercholesterolemia or early heart attacks
High levels of LDL that resist treatment in either or both parents
Individuals from families with a strong history of early heart attacks should have blood tests done to determine lipid levels. Blood tests may show:

High levels of total cholesterol
Greater than 300 mg/dL in adults
Greater than 250mg/dL in children
LDL greater than 200mg/dL
High level of triglycerides
Other tests that may be done include:

Heart function (stress) test
Studies of cells called fibroblasts to see how the body absorbs LDL cholesterol
Genetic test for the defect associated with this condition
Treatment Return to top

Proper diet, exercise, and certain medications can bring lipids (fats in the blood) down to safer levels and reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attacks. Those who inherit only one copy of the defective gene may respond well to diet changes combined with statin drugs.

The first step is to change what you eat. You typically follow a modified diet for several months before your doctor adds on medications. You'll be told to decrease fat intake to less than 30% of the total calories you get each day.

You can reduce fat intake by:

Eating less beef, pork, and lamb
Choosing low-fat dairy products
Avoiding coconut and palm oil
Cholesterol intake is reduced by avoiding:

Egg yolks
Organ meats
Sources of animal-derived saturated fat
Further reductions in the percentage of fat in the diet may be recommended. For more information, see: Heart disease and diet.

Exercise, especially to induce weight loss, may also aid in lowering cholesterol levels.

Drug therapy may be started if diet, exercise, and weight-loss efforts have not lowered your cholesterol levels over time. Several cholesterol-lowering drugs are available, including:

Bile acid sequestrant resins (cholestyramine and colestipol)
Fenofibrate
Gemfibrozil
Nicotinic acid (niacin)
Statin drugs

Can I ask what your level was, people will FH tend to have very high levels.
Oats have a substance called beta glucan this helps to lower cholesterol, you can make biscuits, flapjacks etc from them yummy...Readybrek, porridge, replace a little normal flour in your baking with oat flour.
I hope you sort it out soon xx.

Thanks for that Blue Eyes....Great stuff... :o)

Don't know what level it was, just had a letter from GP to say blood tests showed it to be high n read enclosed dietry sheet.....

Am under the GP for depression n due to go back week after next anyway so will ask then...

J:o)xx