Cholesterol Anybody?

[Toad]

I was 51. The don't give you any timeline but the consensus is that in most people that get blocked it develops over quite a few years.

I think (with pretty good reason) that one of the key indicators is heredity. I have a very good friend that has done studies on it and he's convinced that heredity is about the best indicator. Do you have close family members that have had coronary obstructions?

With a score of zero, assuming you are somewhere around 50, I'd suspect that you have the right genes to mostly avoid blockages. Things happen, things change but if you're midlife with a zero Agatston score I think your posted cholesterol numbers are not a major problem. The scans don't "see" soft or "vulnerable plaque" in the artery wall itself though. One of those pops and it is severely bad ju-ju. I think they scan for those with an ultrasound head on the catheter. I know the Cleveland Clinic was doing those but I'd think you'd have to have some symptoms to justify the procedure.

Something else can always go wrong but.. hey! look out for that semi!

[AWMac]

Had probs with mine for awhile until I listened to the wifey and did the ol secret Asian cure for it.  My Dr once told me that I'm a walking Stroke just waiting to happen, sent me to a Cardiac Maniac for an AngioPlasty thingy.. ya know the probe up the groin into the heart then inject dye? My Dr thought for sure they'd find blockage due to the cholesterol levels and my shortness of breath, periods of profound unprovoked sweatin. Dr even blocked out 5 days for a hospital stay for stents, balloons, bypass or whatever they found.  I'm layin there and the Cardiac Maniac states "Whoa this is rare.." Thought I was gonna buy the farm right there... he spun the monitor around and said look...*like I know what the hell to look for....* He says you have a extra artery coming from the left ventricle no wonder you had a few probs. Your heart is trying to push more blood out than what is coming into it. Arteries were clean as a young mans. I walked out the same day I walked in... groin hurt like hell though. But was happy. Placed me on meds and never had a prob since then.
Ohhh the wifeys secret Asian cure... well it still works too.

 

Mac

[Shuckins]

Couple of years ago I was having fluttering sensations in my chest.  So, my doc sent me to a heart specialist to have a nuclear stress test.  Passed it with flying colors....no blockages.

But...my cholesterol is high, so I take Vytorin at night.  I'm not eating as much beef as I used to, but I could stand to cut it back even more.

[Toad]

You can all trust me on this... the heart scan is FAR more reliable an indicator than any sort of stress test.

The stress test can be wrong 10% of the time. The heart scan, if it shows calcium, is almost 98% reliable.

A stress test can tell you there's a blockage when there is not and can just as easily tell you there is no blockage when there IS a blockage.

Short story: A stress test is OLD technology. Time for it to go away. As a bonus, the heart scans are ~$200 now, a fraction of the cost of a stress test.

If you have any doubt.. get a stress test. 15 minutes, $200 bucks, 98+% reliable.

[slipknot]

I was 51. The don't give you any timeline but the consensus is that in most people that get blocked it develops over quite a few years.

I think (with pretty good reason) that one of the key indicators is heredity. I have a very good friend that has done studies on it and he's convinced that heredity is about the best indicator. Do you have close family members that have had coronary obstructions?

With a score of zero, assuming you are somewhere around 50, I'd suspect that you have the right genes to mostly avoid blockages. Things happen, things change but if you're midlife with a zero Agatston score I think your posted cholesterol numbers are not a major problem. The scans don't "see" soft or "vulnerable plaque" in the artery wall itself though. One of those pops and it is severely bad ju-ju. I think they scan for those with an ultrasound head on the catheter. I know the Cleveland Clinic was doing those but I'd think you'd have to have some symptoms to justify the procedure.

Something else can always go wrong but.. hey! look out for that semi!

I'm nowhere near 50. 2 decades away from it, in fact. My dad had a quadrouple bypass at 41, with a total cholesterol of 170. His lifestyle was different. Smoked, didn't watch his diet, didn't work out, worked about 80-90 hours a week in one of the most stressfull jobs in existance. One day it hit him. He was back at work 2 weeks later and 15 years later, had a mitral valve replaced due to damage incurred during the infarction. Today he's in his 60s, still working, still eating freely. No more smoking and he sees his cardiologist regularly. He takes a buffet of pills and his blood is very closely controlled.

My mom has a total cholestrol of right around 300, and has no blockage. Grandpop on her side is 104 and still active.

To make a long story short, I've got a good mix of genes, but the risk factor is present enough that they started to actively monitor and treat this problem well before my 30th birthday.

[ZetaNine]

best thing in the world is to have good blood work done...with specific attention paid to blood protein levels.  even "bad" cholesterol is not necessarily bad...it depends if it's got the ingredients to take the next step to harden.....and that relates to protein levels.  It's something most blood work will not show unless you ask them to specifically test it.

[DieAz]

I'll be 48 in 1 week,

 have a Happy Birthday Mr.Potatohead.

[Toad]

I don't think you'd have a lot of calcium at 30 unless you had really bad genes. From what I've read, you should probably retest every 5 years or so and work on keeping the cholesterol down. 200 isn't the end of the world, but with a history they probably want you below 150 total.

So you have heart disease on your father's side of the family. Any others on that side? Uncles, Grandfathers, Aunts, etc? If there are, I'd go ahead and get on one of the statins now. Low dose to aid your already fairly good diet/exercise plan. At least that's what my friend that does the research suggests. The statins have some other benefits besides lowering cholesterol.

Of course, I'm not a doctor but I do stay in Holiday Inn's now and then.

G'luck.

[AWMac]

Lard, the Other white grease.

Lard and Peanut Butter sammiches...

[FTDEEP]

my cholesterol count was up there. i wiped out a meal. i have a late breakfast/lunch. i have my last meal by 6p.m. any snacks after 6 was plain cherrios w/splenda. my count dropped like a rock.

[storch]

flax seeds, raw oatmeal, excercise and reduced fatty foods does it for me.

[ZetaNine]

flax seeds, raw oatmeal, excercise and reduced fatty foods does it for me.

uncooked oatmeal? or just unprocessed as in instant?

[storch]

a brimming tablespoon of uncooked steel cut oatmeal downed with a few ounces of water twice daily.  be ready to discharge the first few days.

[ChickenHawk]

Read Eat to Live. Follow it and it's pretty much guaranteed to bring your cholesterol back to normal, regardless of your genes.  I would also recommend it to any diabetics that are interested in curing their diabetes.

[BaldEagl]

I had a stent put in about 8-9 years ago.  My right coronary artery was 95% blocked.  Immediatley after, they put me on Lipitor, Toprol and Plavix.  That remained the same until I moved from NY back to MN.

Since I moved back to MN, I've been going to get my blood drawn and visiting the doc about every 3-4 months.  They've changed my meds and doses regularily.  I can't even remember what all I take now but there's a staten, a blood thinner, a beta blocker, SloNiacin, Fish Oil and something else i think.

My total Cholesterol is good and has been for quite a while but my HDL never seems to move up to where it's supposed to be.  My triglycerides went from over 600 at the time of my stent to now under 200.

I eat a reasonably low fat, low cholesterol, low sugar diet.  I met with a dietition and she really couldn't find anything in my diet to correct.  I exercise most days.

I guess people react differently to different meds, thus all the experimentation and trial and error I've been through the past few years with this.  My Dr. is really intent on getting all my numbers fixed even if it kills one of us.

[EDIT]  BTW, I get those fluttering sensations in my chest too.  It's an arythmia in the upper heart chamber and that's what the beta blockers are for.  Both the Doc in NY and the one in MN say it's nothing to worry about.