Cholesterol

[smurfchops]

My husband is 5'9 and weighs 12 stone. Middle aged ... What should his cholesterol count be?

[boxtops]

I am sure the medical people will tell you better than I can, but anything over 5 is said to be too high. I don't think height and weight has relevance necessarily - I have a skinny friend with a very high count. I was at 7.4 and was put on a statin a year ago, now down to 4.7.

[daffy654]

My 42 year old oh just had his cholestrol tested, he is 5'10" and about 12 stone. His reading was 4.0 and the doc said this was ideal. Anything below 5.0 s good.

[smurfchops]

Thanks :)

[Wak]

According to a Body Mass Index calculator (BMI) his BMI is 26 and a recent BBC prog stated that a normal BMI should be from 17 to 22.
At his height his ideal weight should be about 10 stone (ish)
He'll have to cut out the booze and the bacon butties, I guess?

[Androcles]

This really makes you wonder how accurate these things are. I have just put his figures into two other body mass calculators and they both calculate his BMI at 24.8 and says that normal is 18.5 to 24.9, healthy weight!

[sumo19]

BMI is a pile of rubbish.

Think about it, if there was an extremely fit person, has 2% body fat and the rest is muscle and is has a very big build, (bearing in mind also that muscle weighs more than fat) and the subject is farily small in height, BMI will come back as Obese.

It is aimed at the very average person and does not specifically apply to anyone.

What people should really worry about is cholesterol, body fat percentage and saturated fat intake.

I think about 4 to 5 is fine and anything under is good. Bear in mind though that there is good cholesteral and bad cholesterol (HDL and LDL, i forget which is the good one).

Just eat Linseeds, rich in Omega 3. (may contain nuts and may not be suitable :P)

[Sqad]

Might I add my personal opinion to the cholesterol debate, but emphasising that you should follow the opinion of your GP.
The values of total cholesterol given by the above posters are correct, BUT,if your cholesterol is above 5, that does NOT mean that you will have a heart attack or stroke in the near future, conversely if your cholesterol is below 5, it does not mean that you will NOT have a heart attack or stroke, tomorrow.

Total blood cholesterol values are of limited value, as 2 of the components High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) serve the body in differing ways.

HDL..commonly called "good cholesterol" if raised is good for you.
LDL..commonly called "bad cholesterol" if raised, may be a warning sign to change your lifestyle.

My point and my opinion.....do not get a "hang up" of relative levels of you total cholesterol readings.