DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I was recently denied disability insurance due to my lab results. My total cholesterol was 234, and my HDL cholesterol was 100. Also, my CDT test was positive. What does that mean? I am a 48-year-old nonsmoker, 5 feet 10 inches tall and 162 pounds. Would you comment on these results? – J.I.

ANSWER: Your total cholesterol of 234 mg/dL (6 mmol/L) is a bit higher than the recommended 200 (5.17). However, your HDL cholesterol is sky-high – a very favorable finding. HDL cholesterol is the kind of cholesterol that protects against heart attacks and strokes. It’s not the cholesterol that clings to arteries and plugs them up. It’s the cholesterol that’s transported to the liver for disposal. An HDL cholesterol reading greater than 60 (1.55) is extremely good news. If you were denied insurance because of your HDL cholesterol, someone erred.

Even though your total cholesterol is high, a good part of the total is made up of HDL. Dividing total cholesterol by HDL cholesterol yields a number that can be used to judge risk for a future heart attack. If the number is 5 for a man and 4.4 for a woman, that person has an average risk of having a heart attack. Lower numbers are positive prognostic indications. Dividing your total cholesterol by your HDL cholesterol gives 2.3, a number that puts you in a class of people whose risk for heart attack is half that of the general population. You should be given credit for that.

Most insurance companies will tell potential clients why there were denied a policy. Either you or your agent can call for that information. Definitely, your height and weight should not disqualify you.

CDT is carbohydrate-deficient transferrin, a test that is used to determine alcohol use. Perhaps that was the test that led to your disqualification.

The ins and outs of cholesterol are discussed in the booklet on that topic. Readers can obtain a copy by writing: Dr. Donohue – No. 201, Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Enclose a check or money order (no cash) for $4.50 U.S./$6.50 Can. with the recipient’s printed name and address. Please allow four weeks for delivery.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Is there an alternative to surgery for a neuroma? I have one in my foot. Wearing shoes is painful for me. – S.H.

ANSWER: You’re speaking of a Morton’s neuroma, which is a growth of scar tissue around a foot nerve – a common foot problem. The thick tissue squeezes the nerve and causes a great deal of pain. People with one often say they feel like they are constantly stepping on a stone.

This happens in the ball of the foot and usually to the nerve that serves the area between the third and fourth toes.

Metatarsal pads, found in the foot-care section of drugstores, can provide some relief. It’s important that you wear shoes that provide lots of room for the fronts of the feet. Shoes with a firm arch support also alleviate the pain.

A doctor can inject the painful area with cortisone, and that sometimes loosens the grip of the scar tissue on the nerve.

Surgery is a last resort – when all else fails.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: What is your opinion on Aricept? I am 88. I do my own grocery shopping, cook meals for my husband, do the laundry and keep up the house. We attend a monthly senior dinner to which I bring a dish. I sometimes forget where I put things, but I always find them. I forget names of people I don’t see often. Do I need to take this drug? – O.P.

ANSWER: Aricept is a medicine that can slow the decline of mental functions in some Alzheimer’s patients for a period of time. It is not a cure. I can’t detect any sign of Alzheimer’s in what you say. You function at a level far above mine. Why don’t you ask for testing to see if you need the drug? That can take all the guesswork out of its use for you.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have been told that elderly people should stay away from children with chickenpox to avoid getting shingles. Is this true? – B.L.

ANSWER: It’s false. Shingles comes from the chickenpox virus that people contracted usually in childhood. The virus lives forever after in nerve cells and, later in life, wakens, travels down the nerve to the skin and produces shingles.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475.