Causes for increase in LDL cholesterol levels

Dear tsr17,

Thanks so much for your post.  I am a moderator for the site and though not medically trained I will try to help you find answers to your questions. 

I searched our site and found three sections I think might be of interest.  The first is Risk Factors, the second is Life Style Changes for Cholesterol and the third is Cholesterol Treatment.

I hope these area can provide you with the information you are looking for.  Please post again so we can know how you are doing. 

All the best, sue 

Reasons for an increased LDL (or any cholesterol level) can include not fasting sufficiently before the test, having a particularly heavy meal within 36 hours of the test and your body's own intrinsic propensity to produce LDL.  And a lab error...

The good news is your HDL ("good" cholesterol) went up but ideally it should be above 60.  Ideal LDL is below 70 and total cholesterol below 200.

It seems as if you have had a total cholesterol level above 200 for at least 9 years.  Your body mass is normal.  However, without knowing your family history (if any siblings, mother/father or grandparents had heart disease), it's impossible to know your actual cardiac risk.  But folks with normal height/weight ratio's still die every year of heart disease...

I would discuss again with your doctor.  If you have a family history of heart disease I would seriously consider taking a statin - most are now available generic, generally well tolerated and offer proven protection against a cardiac event.

It's likely you already have plaque in one or more cardiac arteries.  While statins do not remove the plaque already present, they do lower cholesterol levels so more plaque does not build up and they have also shown to actually "encapsulate" the plaque so it is not as likely to break off and cause a blockage (i.e. a heart attack or stroke).  They also seem to reduce the arterial inflamation that seems to be related to advanced cardiac disease.

I'm a 47 year old male, 5'9", 210lbs and generic Zocor lowered my Total cholesterol level from 210 to 139, LDL from 110 to 62 and raised my HDL from 37 to 41. 

Good luck.