Hello to the everyone here. I am new to the discussion board, and need some input to plan my next steps. First, I would like to apologize for butting in this thread, as I couldn't figure out how to start a new topic/thread.
I went to the Dr., recently for a chest/abdominal pain, ended up with a cardiologist, went through a battery of tests, the last one being heart catheterization. Here is what they found. I have a 30% "blockage" (whatever that means) in ONLY ONE artery (as the cardiologist put it: this is like a dimple in a garden hose, nothing serious), rest of my heart etc, is good. My cardiologist said, that my abnormal stress test should have been negative based on all my other good test results. He further said that "you do not have any heart disease and there is no damage to your heart". However, he wants me to take Liptor, and this is the point I need some in put, to keep my cholesterol down. I personally feel I should be able to do this with diet and activity alone. I really hate taking medication to keep something in control, instead of addressing the root cause.

Here are my latest lipid test nos., from a check up in Oct-07 (I do not have the blood tests done by the Cardiologist): TRI-G: 224, TOT-Cholest: 163, LDL: 83, HDL: 35. Any feedback and advice would be appreciated. I think this is great forum with some insightful discussions. Thanks to all.

Thank you so much for your input. I have been educating myself, and was indeed going to try vitamins, and fish oil, flax seed oil, etc.. Your suggestions seem inline with that. I have started exercising, on a regular basis. The crappy part of this, my severe pain has not gone away and I am scheduled for a GI specialist visit next week. stomach Ulcer has been ruled out. Not sure what could be causing such pain for almost a month now, when so far all my internal seems normal. Thanks again.

I don't mean to sound negative, but with a 30% blockage, I'm not entirely sure how your cardiologist says you don't have heart disease. No, you don't have heart disease to the extent where a cardiologist would give you a stent or recommend bypass, but it probably does means you have a decent amount of arterial plaque (they do a calcium score on you)?

And most heart attacks occur due to plaque and not blockages.

As for what you can do, you'll want to get your triglycerides down under 100, preferentially around the 60s, and HDL above the 50s or so, ideally. You'll also want information regarding your LP(a), homocysteine and c-reactive protein levels.

The advice Lord_Taff gives is a good start. Fish oil can lower your triglycerides and exercise+wine may help your HDL. I'd also make diet modifications, if you haven't already, and consider either a statin, RYR or high dose niacin. A daily aspirin might not be a bad idea either, but discuss it, as well as any of the above options, with your doctor first. And based on the data you have posted, it appears niacin would help you more than a statin/RYR would. But if your particle sizes are lousy, perhaps both would be warranted.

Namelessme:

My assumption is, in his perspective the heart muscle tissue was not affected, and there has been no restriction of normal blood flow to the heart, to cause any damage. I am not sure about how one defines disease in this case, not being a doctor. I am also skeptical about statins, since it is prescribed so readily, only to lower cholesterol; not sure if they reduce or remove plaque already formed. I am also skeptical about Tri-G being the cause of plaque. I have always had high Tri-G, and low HDL, going back to 1997. But, your input is helpful as I keep learning more on this whole cholesterol and heart disease stuff.

You are right, as there has been no damage to your heart, nor is blood flow being impeded. Cardiovascular disease might be a more appropriate term here.

Statins can reduce your chances of having a heart attack, and can reduce the speed at which plaque builds up. If you took a high enough dose of a statin to lower your cholesterol super low (LDL below 70), I think there are some studies that show it does reverse plaque (a tiny bit). But... of course, statins do have some side effects too.

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I am not saying statins are even ideal here. Perhaps diet, exercise, fish oil and something to raise your HDL will be fine. Basically, you just need to figure out the best ways to get your triglycerides, ldl, and hdl closer to 60-60-60 numbers. And high triglycerides alone might not cause plaque, but when they are high, it also tends to mean your VLDL is high, and your LDL may mostly consist of small particle sizes, which are sorta bad.

Yes, that is my plan, to get my HDL up over atleast 50 or so, by diet and exercise. You are also right about Tri-G, in that it may not cause direct plaque build up, but contributes to other bad stuff as you point out. Hi, a chance to change my life for the better!

Lion58.

Forget Statins and Red Yeast Rice....you just don't need them as your TC and LDL are extremely good.
BY lowering these two values with the above is basically, asking for further serious heart problems.

It has been proven that low TC and LDL levels lead to more cardiac problems than having high levels, in middle to old age people.

Just concentrate on lowering your triglycerides, and the HDL.

Lord Taff
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Lord T.

I completely agree with you. In fact that is exactly my plan. To raise my HDL and keep the Tri-G's below a safe range by eating healthy and exercising. Upon reading up a lot, I am more convinced than ever that I do not need drugs to make adjustment to my cholestorols. There is not even a correlation between Tri-G per se and heart disease.

I will stay in touch.