Good thread for the young guys to read, might I add.
Toad and I have posted back and forth about this a lot. I have high cholesterol, just inheritied. French ancestry. I figure we all have veins full of gravy or something. My family history shows us stroking out in our 70s to 80s, so we do not have a "terrible" history. Those that went sooner were smokers. And of course, knowing what we know now kind of thing.
It wasn't until a coworker had a heart attack that something scared the heck out of me. He was a 2-pack a day smoker, no exercise and out fast food a lot. He was an on-the-road copier repair guy and went home one night, got the cold sweats and called 911. He survived and is alright now, but what freaked me out was he was on 42 or so when this happened. For whatever reason, at 34, this to me was like lightening striking a few feet away from you. It was time to see what could happen if you do not take care of yourself, so smarten up!
My cholesterol wasnt terrible, always in the 220s with the HDL in the mid 50s. Trigs 99. But once they lowered the bar to 200, suddenly I went from slightly high to this new approach of OMG-GET-IT-LOWER.
I did really well on Lipitor, dropping it to 162 but I ached and ached from that med. I tried many of Toad's suggestions and changed the diet radically since 2004. With my Dr's help, we tried as many non-medical ways to lower it, including niacin. If you ever wanted to know what a woman goes through with hotflashes, niacin is your trip! That made my HDL (good stuff) soar, but for me, it brought the other stuff up too. I did niacin for 4 months and got tested twice, I was 270 and 285. Not where we want to go!
Since then, I'm on pravastatin and do not get the aching. (Vytorin made my back feel like I went 9 rounds with George Foreman) My last few tests have steadily gone down, I hit 199 in Jan (HDL 52) but burbled up to 213 in March (HDL 55). My doctor upped my statin from 10mg to 20mg to push me under 200.
Working at a hospital is quite an enlightening experience. I walk by the cath lab daily and I cringe when I see guys in their 30s and 40s in there. Thankfully, for employees, they offer a lot of free screenings for stroke prevention and the like. While I have never had the resources to do a heart scan like Toad did, I was able to get a free ultrasound of my cartoid arteries (neck) and I came up all clear. Most insurances will cover a good deal of preventative care items, so ask your doctor what's available.
If you are into reading about these things, I would suggest the Dr Oz book "You: The Owner's Manual" amongst others.
A few nutritional tips I would pass along...
1. Do a daily vitamin. I like the GNC Heart Health Vita-packets.
2. If you take a statin, consider adding CoQ10 supplements since its an important heart health item and statins turn off that enzyme to slow cholesterol protection. I take 100mg in the morning and another at night.
3. Alpha Lipoic acid. It recycles the antioxidants in your system. Think of your system like an engine and free radicals are like "rust" in your lines. Keep em clear.
4. Pomegranate juice. Its been shown to reduce plaque, it literally melts it away. Google it, research it.
5. Green tea. Not only does it hydrate you better but it thins the blood.
6. Baby asprin. 162mg a day. Reduces inflammation and thins the blood as well, helping prevent clotting.
7. Fish oil.
8. EXERCISE! 30 minutes a day if you can. Not only will you drop weight but you make your heart stronger.
9. Watch your waist. If your waist size is over 40 (or 35 for a female), you are at greater risk.
And finally (can you tell I've researched this heavily?)...cholesterol is just one aspect of heart disease. While its good to reduce cholesterol, what's your blood pressure? High blood pressure does more damage than the high cholesterol (or so I have read). Remember, people with low cholesterol have heart attacks too.
Finally, have you had your blood checked for any genetic variations? My family has the Luten V factor thing ,which just means our blood is apt to go overboard clotting a cut. Its something we need to let Dr's know before any surgery, etc.
Let us know how you make out on your next test.
