Heart Disease In Family- What 2 do next? - Heart Disorders Message Board

lismark · 01-29-2009, 01:55 PM

Hi there!
Let me give some background. My husband is 30 years old and in relatively good shape. He has been on medicine for high cholestero for about 3-4 years now and he gets that from his dad's side. In december with meds it had goneup to 240s and so we have changed our diet and added exercise. But on his mom's side, his grandpa has had 3 heart attacks, an unlce has had two, and his other uncle just passed away at 41 from a sudden heart attack. I also found out that his mom has male cousins that have had heart attacks in their forties. So my question is what kinds of actions besides diet and exercies should we take? We moved up his April labs and appt to February b/c this recent death has scared us. I want to request a heart scan but my mother-in-law was talking about a stress test. I think a scan would show more... Anyway, I was just wondering what kinds ofthings we should be doing!
Thanks!

rudiraven · 01-29-2009, 03:32 PM

Make sure the doctor does a CRP test for inflammation. That is more telling than the cholesterol test. Inflammation causes the cholesterol to stick (like a bandaid) to the injured artery. What is his cholesterol breakdown, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides, etc.? Be very careful with the statin medication. It can cause all sorts of muscle, tendon, and joint problems. Be sure he is taking a COQ10 supplement because statins deplete the body of this important enzyme. He's young and try not to stress too much. That's not healthy either. They can do a nuclear stress test and it shows the flow of the blood and if there are any blockages. Best wishes.

lismark · 01-29-2009, 07:40 PM

Thanks so much for the tips, we've moved up his appt from April to Feb. so I am looking forward to talkingto the doc. He is currently taking Crestor.... I have to educate myself again since so much has changed since he first started taking meds. So is that a statin? He had problems with I think 3 other meds b/c of how it affected his liver. So that has been another concern. Anyway, we will try not to stress, I just want to make sure that if there are things we should be doing, to do it and be proactive and well informed.
Thanks!

sunshine123 · 02-01-2009, 12:23 AM

Everyone in my immediate family has had a heart attack except me, so my Dr. is having me get a treadmill stress test. My mother and one of 2 brothers is deceased from heart disease, my other brother had a massive heart attack, was in a coma and not expected to live. He proved the Drs. wrong and is now doing well. My father is still alive but elderly and has had 4 heart surgeries and wears a pacemaker. I take a meds. for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. I'm still scared that something will show up when I have the stress test, although I don't have chest pain or anything. I've been exercising for many years and that may have prevented me from having a heart attack. I wish your husband well.