Lab Results

LDL—the bad cholesterol. This value should be no more than 130, if you don’t have any other cardiac risk factors, such as overweight, hypertension (high blood pressure), or diabetes. For two or more risk factors, it’s best if this level is less than 100. If you have diabetes or heart disease, the level should be 70 or lower. The LDL is the portion of a cholesterol panel that goes out to the arteries and deposits as plaque. LDL is made by the liver, so if you have a family history of high cholesterol, you are more likely to have high cholesterol yourself. However, the LDL is also caused partly by what you eat. Eating a diet rich in whole grains and low in animal fats will help. Ask for the healthy diet handout.

HDL—the good cholesterol. The higher the better, as this is the component that takes the cholesterol from the arteries and periphery back to the liver. For women, the HDL should be 45-50 or higher. Quitting smoking and exercising for at minimum twenty minutes per day (aerobic so your heart gets pumping) will help with this.

Triglycerides. These should be no more than 150. Factors in the diet that elevate triglycerides are sugars or white, processed carbohydrates, and animal fats. Other factors that can affect them are elevated blood sugars and hypothyroidism.

Insulin. If I have checked your insulin level, it is because I am concerned you may have insulin resistance, a condition that predisposes you to diabetes. This is a condition in which the body doesn’t use insulin properly. It is much more common if you are overweight or if you have a family history of diabetes. Adipose or fatty tissue doesn’t use insulin very well, so the pancreas has to pump out additional insulin when you consume something with carbohydrates. Over time, the pancreas gets burned out. Once the pancreas is no longer able to keep producing extra insulin to keep the blood sugars down, you will develop first pre-diabetes, then diabetes. Depending on the lab used, a fasting insulin level should be no more than 16-17. It is very important that you follow a diet without sugar or white, processed carbohydrates.

Fasting blood sugar. Normal fasting blood sugars are less than 100. The limits of normal have been changed over the past couple of years; it used to be that the cut-off was 111. If you have two fasting blood sugars above 100, you have impaired fasting glucose, or prediabetes. If you have two fasting blood sugars 126 or greater, you have diabetes. Sometimes I will order a glucose tolerance test. If the blood sugar goes over 200, this is diabetes. Occasionally people will have normal blood sugars in the morning, but their sugars go way up after meals. If your bloodwork shows elevated triglycerides, I may order a glucose tolerance test.

Vitamin D level. If your vitamin D level is less than 20, you are deficient in vitamin D. Between 20-30 is considered insufficient. Often times I will check this level if you have bone loss, whether osteopenia (mild-moderate bone loss) or osteoporosis. Symptoms of low vitamin D include fatigue and generalized achiness. It is a very common finding. Vitamin D is not actually a vitamin, but a hormone, and it can be obtained only by eating or drinking foods fortified with vitamin D (milk, for example) or by sunshine.