However, being on Lipitor my total number is now low. How can I convince my doctor to take me off Lipitor since the total number is being skewed lower and we don’t know what the total number/ratio would be without the Lipitor influence?

Thanks for considering.

I don’t know how you can persuade your doc to take you off Lipitor. He/she has probably bought the drug company promotions hook, line and sinker. Maybe you should copy the post on Statin Panic and take it to your physician, though I doubt that it would make a lot of difference.

MRE

“The rule of thumb is that a good TC/HDL ratio is one below 4, which, according to that calculation, yours is.

“I don’t look at that ratio much, preferring instead to use the Triglyceride/HDL ratio, which I like to see somewhere under 5. Most of our patients on low-carb diets stay around the 2-3 range.”

I’ve been LCing since around 1998. In 2002 I had my blood work done. TC/HDL was 2.71, and Triglyceride/HDL was .99. In 2005 I had it done again. TC/HDL was 2.82 and Triglyceride/HDL was .85.

Pretty good, huh, for someone who’s killing themselves eating all the saturated fat!

Pretty good indeed!

Keep it up.

Cheers–

MRE 

Hi Richard–

Thanks for writing.  You should take a look at a book available in Europe by Malcolm Kendricks titled The Great Cholesterol Con.  It may help you get even more clarification on the statin and fat issues.

Cheers–

MRE 

“I don’t look at that ratio much, preferring instead to use the Triglyceride/HDL ratio, which I like to see somewhere under 5. Most of our patients on low-carb diets stay around the 2-3 range.”

Unless I have lost my mind, on your forum, there is a sticky thread with recommended lipid ratios and Tri/HDL should be

Hi Bill–

Was there more to this comment?

MRE

Hi David–

The rule of thumb is that a good TC/HDL ratio is one below 4, which, according to that calculation, yours is.

I don’t look at that ratio much, preferring instead to use the Triglyceride/HDL ratio, which I like to see somewhere under 5. Most of our patients on low-carb diets stay around the 2-3 range.

Best–

MRE

My father was an alcoholic and was very abusive verbally. However, I did not cut him out of my life and to make a long story short could figure out the reasons why he was the way he was. One day, when he started on one of his rampages swearing and yelling at my mother, me, my son, my sister (or anyone else), I would calmly tell him that I was leaving and would leave whenever he started yelling because it upset me and was a bad influence on HIS GRANDSON. The first time I didn’t hear from him for 2 weeks because he was so insulted by my comment. Then he invited us over more regularly. I calmly reminded him about the yelling a few more times until it stopped completely, in my presence anyway.

Maybe it would be good to try a version of that on your family. Calmly tell them that you cannot join them in festivities until a lot more low-carb options are available and the reasons why. But it’s up to you.

BTW, do you know of any resources where one can find a low carb/paleo/cholesterol skeptic doctor, or are they just way too rare of a breed?

Thanks,

Neal

Hi Neal–

I know a few here and there. Where are you located? If I don’t know someone in your neck of the woods maybe someone else reading these comments will.

Best–

MRE

Hi mrfreddy–

Ah, yes, the old garbage truck theory. It’s the last refuge of the ill informed.

Cheers–

MRE

I noticed that most life insurance companies — who are chiefly concerned with mortality — only seem to look at ratios when deciding who they will insure, and for how much, on the basis of their blood work.

Hi Walt–

You’re right. Best place to look for what is valid are at the policies of those standing to make or lose money.

Cheers–

MRE