DD 10 has high cholesterol

[harrietsmama]

My dd just had a well visit and they recommended so basic blood work. I was curious about vit deficiencies since I have some pretty serious ones so we did the blood work. all her vit levels were fine but she has high cholesterol. Her father also has it and most of his side has had early heart attacks. anyone else experience this? suggestions? her level for total was 174.

[tanyalynn]

First, I don't know the range for kids, you should check that to see if this is 2 points above the norm or, say, 40, and also look at how much of the total cholesterol is HDL and whether triglycerides are elevated.

Early heart disease is sometimes associated with a folate-related gene, it's not terribly rare. Has dad, or anyone in the family, had elevated homocysteine? This page discusses the MTHFR gene topic more, and the folate page is helpful too. See if anything jumps out at your as fitting her dad's family's health history?

For the vitamins, do you have a copy of the labwork? There seem to be quite a few where healthy, feeling normal people are in a narrower part of the reference range, often, say, the top third, but it varies, so it's just something for you to look into further perhaps.

I've read of people improving their lipid profiles over on this blog ... he cites sources well, discusses HDL and LDL in depth, and overall makes a coherent argument.

[harrietsmama]

Thank you Tanya,
*I* have elevated homocysteine, and the sedimentation rate thingy, both only slight, and my ldl is 107, just a bit high. I looked it up and her total is 174, so that's 4 points above the normal range. I don't know much about her dad.

I will see about getting a copy of the lab work and check out these sites. Thank you for your help!

[Violet2]

If her triglycerides are high, those can be lowered pretty fast by eliminating empty sugars and watching fruit intake. Just FYI.

HDL and LDL are harder to influence. You may want to look into some fish oil supplements.

V

[harrietsmama]

I just spent 2 hours looking at the blog you sent Tanya! Wow, wonderful links and helpful commentary.

Violet, yeah, my ex-h feeds them terribly, but now I am armed with reports and studies to back me up. Such as, organic pop tarts are still pop tarts!

I just sent him an overview with snips and a few recipes etc. Wish me luck and my children, that he gets on board.

[KimPM]

You could try some anti-oxidants, too, while you are working on the dietary issues. Things like vitamin C, E, grapeseed extract.