Lipid Profle Question

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello Doctor Feigenbaum/Baraki, after listening to your cholesterol podcast and reading the articles, I decided to check my lipid profiles immediately since my dad has been diagnosed with coronary artery disease and just got his bypass surgery done (4x CABG)

Age: 29
Height: 5’7
Weight: 140lbs
Ethnicity: Asian

Cholesterol: 125
LDL Cholesterol: 68
HDL Cholesterol: 35.6
Chol/HDL (Risk Ratio) 3.53
Non HDL Cholesterol: 90
Triglycerides: 49
Apo B: Should I test?

I’m not really sure what to make of this result, It seems like I have low LDL, but my HDL is also low. Also, compared to my dad’s risk ratio, which is (3.85) It seems I am not at much less risk?

Father
Age: 67
Cholesterol: 186
LDL Cholesterol: 128
HDL Cholesterol: 48.3
Chol/HDL (Risk Ratio) 3.85
Non HDL Cholesterol: 137.7
Triglycerides: 22
Apo B: 1.25 g/L (I believe this is on the higher end)

Considering these factors, am I also at high risk of developing CAD down the line? Or will my Apo B levels mean a lot here? I’d want to start being alert now rather than later since there’s lots of factors I CAN control.

2

Was that lipid panel on your father done while he is on some form of lipid-lowering therapy (like a statin), given his CAD/CABG history?

For you, I would get Apolipoprotein B (abbreviated ApoB) and Lipoprotein(a) (abbreviated Lp(a)) tested in this situation, and ensuring that as many of your other risk factors (things like blood pressure, fasting blood sugar/HbA1c, waist measurement, exercise/nutrition) are all addressed.

3

Lipid panel for my father was done prior to taking any statins. He was only taking baby aspirin.

Fasting Glucose => 104.4 mg/dL
HbA1C => 5.9

Last blood pressure measurement was 118/75,
Probably average around (120-125)

I will report back with ApoB and Lipoprotein(a) testing.

4

Blood pressure looks good.

Blood sugar and A1c definitely have some room for improvement, however.

5

I had to go into sort of a verbal war to get these tested, but here they are

Apo-B => 0.60 g/L or 60 mg/dL
Lipo(A) => <29 mg/L or < 2.9 mg/dL

I’d say based on this, my risk is actually low for the time being considering other factors are controlled?