Blood Test

[ADevoto]

I need some advice because my 13 year old son's pediatrican seems to think that elevated total cholesterol and high phosphorus is ok. So maybe I am missing something so I would appreciate any comments.

His cholesterol test is:

Total cholesterol = 175 (<170)

Triglyceride = 83 (<150)

HDL = 45 (>40)

LD = 106 (<160)

Cholesterol/HDL ratio = 3.9 (<5)

Non HDL Cholesterol/calc = 130 (<160)

Everything seems normal so why is the total cholesterol high???

Also, his phosphorus = 5 and normal is (2.5-4.5)

Does any of this have to do with gluten problems. I had him tested through Entrolab and his values on everything but malabsorption came back high. His pediatrican doesn't believe in the lab.

Thanks for any thoughts.

[WW340]

As you can see from the lab report, the total cholesterol is comprised of several components.

HDL is considered good cholesterol.

LDL is considered bad cholesterol at increased levels.

Your son's LDL cholesterol is a very acceptable number at 106. He also has a normal level of HDL, the good cholesterol.

The Cholesterol/HDL ratio is 3.9. This ratio is considered a risk ratio. Therefore your son shows to be at no increased risk for having health problems due to his current levels of cholesterol.

Therefore, although he has a slightly higher than normal total cholesterol, this is not coming from the harmful cholesterols. His total nonHDL chol. is 130 - well within the acceptable ranges.

Children will often have higher phosphorus levels especially during growth spurts. Usually if there is a real problem with high phosphorus other chemicals will be out of balance too, and the phosphorus would be more than just slightly high.

[NY547]

I agree with WW340. The lipid panel doens't seem to be anything to worry about, however, when my daughter was 13 her cholesterol was also slightly elevated. (200, with ref range <200). Her new doctor wants to have the lipid panel repeated (fasting) just to see where she is now at 15 years old. It wouldn't be a bad idea to ask to have it repeated and also check thyroids. Hypothyroid can cause an increase of cholesterol from what I've read.