Have High Cholesterol. Recent CBC Showed Low MCH, Feels Drowsy And Tired. Cure?

Posted on Tue, 17 Sep 2013

Question: This is about my mom....she is 44 years old with a high cholesterol of 204...how can she lower it? She is always stressed out and recently her fasting CBC indicated she has a low MCH...she is always worried and depressed....when she tires to drive..she gets scared...even though she could drive before...she is always drowsy and tired....

Answered by Dr. Anantharamakrishnan (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Needs Life style changes, Psychiatric opinion

Detailed Answer:
Hi friend,
Welcome to Health Care Magic

     The level is not very high! There are subdivisions of cholesterol – LDL, HDL, non-HDL and so on. / LDL (& non-HDL) is bad cholesterol – lower, the better. / HDL is good cholesterol – higher, the better. / In the absence of any other risk factor, LDL of 100 is ideal... In the presence of ischemia, 70 should be the aim. Start with life style modification like exercise and diet – repeat after 2 months...
     Low MCH is to be interpreted with other red ell indices like MCV and so on... may mean anaemia
     ‘Scary, tired’ may mean Depression and/or Anxiety? – she may benefit from Psychological assessment and assistance...

See an Internist / get her examined / at times, more investigations may be necessary... The treating doctor can suggest further based on his assessment of the situation.

Take care
Wishing speedy recovery
God bless
Good luck

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar