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Annual physical exam

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Posted 12/13/2024 1:23 PM (GMT -5)
Yesterday I had my annual physical exam, which shows my total cholesterol level at 198 (normal < 200). This is much higher than my historical levels. The good news is my PSA level is normal.

For the past year, in order to increase my Hemoglobin level (I am anemic), I ate a lot of beef as well as took iron supplement. My hemoglobin level improved, at the cost of higher cholesterol level. I guess I have to cut my beef consumption and rely on oral iron supplement for anemia treatment. But I think this annual physical exam is important, because it is informative. Is fried chicken (e.g. from fast food restaurant) just as bad as beef in terms of cholesterol content?
Posted 12/13/2024 7:43 PM (GMT -5)
Good news on your PSA, and getting your hemoglobin up, but unfortunately, you're right in that it came at a cost of higher cholesterol. Your total cholesterol would be considered borderline. Some Dr's would recommend a statin even at that. Personally, I think you should be able to bring it down with diet and lifestyle.

Beef is a really nasty culprit, but it's mainly saturated fat in any food that are the enemy. You should try to eliminate as much as you possibly can. Unfortunately, fried chicken would also not be a good choice. For starters, I would eliminate beef, pork, cheese, and butter.

As for keeping your hemoglobin up, there are other iron rich foods that you could try. Also, you could try taking folate and vitamin c. Good luck, hope you keep improving.

P.S: you should also get your LDL, HDL and even your Lipo-A. checked.
Posted 12/13/2024 10:35 PM (GMT -5)
Hi, Tom:

My LDL is 118, but the lab says < 130 mg/dL is normal. I do not understand this one. Can they use different testing machine?

HDL is 61 (normal is between 40-65), Triglycerides is 94 (normal is between 55-150), Non-HDL Cholesterol is 137 (normal is < 190) and Ratio of Chol/HDL = 3.2 (normal between 2.0-5.0). These results look OK.
Posted 12/14/2024 7:49 PM (GMT -5)
Agreed Paul,

Your numbers look pretty good. Forgot to mention Triglyceride's. They're just as important, and usually increase with too much sugar in your diets as opposed to saturated fat. LDL could be the most important as it's the worst of the types of cholesterol to have high. As I mentioned though, a diet low in saturated fat should help keep it under control. Good luck going forward.
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