73 + 168 = 241

191 / 5   =   38 this corrects triglycerides to cholesterol equivalents

241 + 38 = 279 total cholesterol

I suggest before you panic you go to the Harvard Risk calculator and
figure out what your actual risk is based on many factors.  That 279 by
itself means relatively little.  Here is the link:

http://www.yourdiseaserisk.harvard.edu/hccpquiz.pl?func=start&quiz=heart

You might want to take a look at this:

Bill

___________________________

Brief Aerobic Exercise May Improve Mood, Well-Being in Major Depression CME

News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Charles Vega, MD, FAAFP

Complete author affiliations and disclosures, and other CME information, are
available at the end of this activity.

Release Date: December 29, 2005; Valid for credit through December 29, 2006

Credits Available
Physicians - up to 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 continuing medical education
credits for physicians ;
Family Physicians - up to 0.25 AAFP Prescribed continuing medical education
credits for physicians

All other healthcare professionals completing continuing education credit for
this activity will be issued a certificate of participation.
Participants should claim only the number of hours actually spent in
completing the educational activity.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dec. 29, 2005 - A single 30-minute bout of aerobic exercise or quiet rest
improves mood in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), according to
the results of a randomized study reported in the December issue of Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise. However, only exercise benefited measures
of positive well-being and vigor.

"There is a growing recognition and acceptance of chronic exercise as a useful
treatment modality for depression," write John B. Bartholomew, MD, from the
University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues. "The number of acute exercise
bouts needed to produce a therapeutic effect is unknown; however, exercise
training interventions have effected a substantial improvement in symptoms in
only a few weeks."

In this study, 40 individuals who were receiving treatment for MDD were
randomized to exercise at 60% to 70% of age-predicted maximal heart rate for
30 minutes or to a 30-minute period of quiet rest. There were 15 men and 25
women, all of whom completed both the Profile of Mood States and Subjective
Exercise Experiences Scale (SEES) as indicators of mood 5 minutes before, and
5, 30, and 60 minutes after their experimental condition.

Although both groups reported similar reductions in measures of psychological
distress, depression, confusion, fatigue, tension, and anger, only the
exercise group reported a significant increase in positive well-being and
vigor scores.

Study limitations may include those inherent in the survey instruments, low
variability in baseline scores for the well-being subscale, failure to find an
effect for the fatigue subscale of the SEES, lack of generalizability to the
clinical population, and failure to assess levels of ongoing clinical
depression.

"Although this would not be expected to have an impact on the underlying
mental disorder, a single bout of exercise does appear to be a useful method
for patients with MDD to regulate their mood in the short term, with a
particular effect on positive moods," the authors write. "Given the
debilitating symptoms of depression, a respite such as this is potentially
invaluable to those who suffer with MDD. This is especially true because the
time course of pharmacologic treatments require at least 2 - 4 weeks and can
exceed 6 - 8 weeks before providing significant relief of depression."

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2005;37:2032-2037

Learning Objectives for This Educational Activity
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:
 a.. Compare an exercise program, antidepressant medications, or a
combination of the 2 therapies in the treatment of older patients with
depression.
 b.. Identify the immediate benefits of brief exercise among patients with
depression.
Clinical Context
The treatment of depression may be limited because of adverse effects of
antidepressant medications, particularly in older adults. Therefore, simple
treatments with a low rate of possible adverse events are attractive therapies
for depression. Blumenthal and colleagues compared sertraline, a program of
aerobic exercise, or both among a cohort of older adults with depression. The
results, which were published in the October 25, 1999, issue of the Archives
of Internal Medicine, demonstrated that all treatments were similarly
effective in improving the degree of depression for 16 weeks. However,
patients receiving medication alone had the fastest initial response.

There is less research regarding the immediate impact of exercise among
patients with depression. The authors of the current study examine different
emotional domains in a randomized, controlled trial of brief,
moderate-intensity aerobic exercise.

Study Highlights
 a.. Patients eligible for study participation included adults between the
ages of 18 and 55 years old who were diagnosed as having MDD within 2 weeks
prior to study entry. Subjects had not received other treatment for depression
prior to randomization. MDD was diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Disorders, Fourth Edition, criteria. Patients who
reported regular exercise more than twice per week or who had concomitant
psychiatric diagnoses along with MDD were excluded from study participation.
 b.. Study subjects were randomized to either an exercise or control group.
The exercise group completed 30 minutes of exercise on a treadmill at 65% to
70% of their predicted maximal heart rate. The control group's intervention
consisted of 30 minutes of quiet rest.
 c.. Study outcomes included measures of psychological distress, depression,
confusion, fatigue, tension, anger, positive well-being, and vigor. These
factors were measured 5 minutes prior to the study intervention as well as at
5, 30, and 60 minutes after the intervention.
 d.. 15 men and 25 women participated in the study. The mean age was 38.1
years. Baseline data on the domains measured was roughly similar between study
groups.
 e.. In general, all outcomes measured (except fatigue) improved with time in
both treatment groups. There was little difference in the effects of exercise
vs quiet rest on these outcomes, although superior scores were noted for
positive well-being and vigor at 5 and 30 minutes in the exercise cohort
compared with the quiet-rest group.
Pearls for Practice
 a.. Previous research has demonstrated that antidepressant medications,
aerobic exercise, or a combination of both treatments can improve depression
to a similar degree in older adults.
 b.. In the current study, exercise was associated with an improvement in
short-term measures of positive well-being and vigor when compared with quiet
rest in a cohort of patients with MDD. However, 6 other emotional domains were
unaffected by randomization to exercise vs quiet rest.

Total cholesterol = HDL + LDL +VLDL (triglycerides/5)

Just off the top of my head with some of these. Very high cholesterols in
the 2000 mg/dl range as can be seen in Lipoprotein X cholestasis can cause
light-headedness due to hyperviscosity. that certainly isn't in that range.
Depression can be associated with hypercortisolism and lipid abnormalities.
Depression is a metabolically hyperactive condition in this regard to stress
hormones.
Thyroid disease can impact your lipid levels also.

 I'm seeing a new cardiologist

I should have read the entire thing but what the heck. Hypothyroidism can
certainly elevate your cholesterol. I am referring to TSH greater than 3.
Depression won't respond to the normal antidepressants if your TSH is
elevated. Your thyroid needs to be treated first. Depression itself can
alter your thyroid pituitary axis and alter some values. Medication for
certain types of depression can also alter your thyroid hormones so those
are usually monitored.
Take a look at the TSH and see if it's high or low.

Here's one link

http://www.mental-health-matters.com/articles/article.php?artID=319