By MARTIN JOHNSTON and JOHN-JOHN HOFFELDT
Jaype Bester has the the highest cholesterol level known to New Zealand heart experts.
His level is so high that clinicians called him a "walking timebomb" at serious risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Yet until this month the 49-year-old Auckland church pastor had
no idea he could be on borrowed time.
Tests found Mr Bester's total cholesterol level was 43 millimoles per litre of blood. The normal level is 5.2.
Leaders of the Heart Foundation and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand said it was the highest level they had heard of.
High blood cholesterol, which can be due to genetic factors and a diet high in butter and other saturated fats, increases the risk of artery disease.
Foundation medical director Dr Diana North said anyone with Mr Bester's level was in urgent need of treatment.
"The risk is he will be blocking off his arteries. You can't say when, but I wouldn't want to be sitting with that."
Mr Bester arrived from South Africa in January, and is pastor of the Afrikaans-speaking congregation Living Word in Browns Bay.
About six weeks ago he applied for a life insurance policy. One of the requirements was a cholesterol test.
After his GP saw the results this month, he told Mr Bester to go to the nearest hospital, which was North Shore.
More blood tests produced identical results and he was referred to the Auckland Hospital diabetes clinic, where he was diagnosed as diabetic and prescribed drugs and a strict diet.
"They told me I'm a walking timebomb. It's amazing, one day nothing is wrong with you, then you have this."
Mr Bester said he felt well, although he perspired profusely while preaching and his arms felt weak.
He has lost 10kg since being diagnosed, and now weighs 92kg.
He has always walked for exercise, and is now on a low-fat diet, cutting out favourites such as butter. He does not smoke or drink alcohol.
Green Lane Hospital cardiologist Professor Harvey White said such an extremely high cholesterol level could be caused by an inherited disorder that was more common among South Africans.
Mr Bester said the insurance company "wouldn't touch me with a piece of barbed wire".
nzherald.co.nz/health
