A recent carotid artery ultrasound (doppler) showed my left carotid artery to have "40% - 60% artery stenosis". I have this test done annually, and this test is the first in years that shows an increase -- they have always been "0%-40% artery stenosis" in the past.
I realize this indicates an increased stenosis in my left carotid artery, but is it alarming at this point? I manage my cholesterol nicely with 10 mgs. of lipitor and gym exercises. My cholesterol is 172 - Trig.-105, HDL-66, LDL-85 with the Lipitor. I am a 63 year old female and I am not overweight.
Does this mean that an endartectomy is definitely in my future? At what point of stenosis do they usually consider surgery. Also, I note for the first time the composition of the plaque has changed from Homogeneous to Heterogeneous...the later being more dangerous.
Brenda, I am sorry that this has become a worry for you, I am somewhat confused because you say you have been on Lipitor and it has become worse. Everything we are suppose to believe is that Lipitor will help stop that and even say it will reverse it. I must tell you I am very skeptical. I took Lipitor and Lovastatin (not at the same time) but ended up with too many problems so stopped. I also am a women in her late 60's and I am reading too many reports that question whether an older women should even take statins. It seems when checking nursing homes they found that the women who lived to old ages were the ones that had higher cholesterol not lower. Perhaps you may look to your diet, is it high in saturated fats, keeping in mind that fat is not the evil that we all have been taught in the past, but rather the right fats have an important place in our diet, but really saturated fats are not good and will block arteries. I have a book by Dr. Johanna Budwig who is considered in Europe to be the authority on fats and she talks about the good fats and bad, bad being the ones that lack the electrons that have the spark of life in them. These are hydrogenated fats or fats that are now dead and these the body's puts in the arteries in an effort to get rid of them. We find them in packaged foods (cake mixes etc.) and fast food restaurants, the fat is killed in order to have shelf life. Your heart need fats, these fats go into the lymphatic system and when the used blood is injected into the right-hand ventricle of the heart each heart beat deposits lymphatic fluid into the blood this is the spark that the heart needs, but if no spark is there because of dead fats then it is rejected and end up in the arteries. Simplified version.
With the degree of stenosis that you currently have, you are not a candidate for surgery, and may never be. Unless I am mistaken, doctors will not even consider surgery unless the stenosis progresses to at least 80-90%. Why? Because the surgery is risky, and so there would really be no point in subjecting a person to this until it reaches a point where it presents a substantial risk. As I said, you may never even have to undergo this surgery. You can go for many years without seeing any further progression. For example, my father had surgery on his right carotid artery 11 years ago, when he was 65. Of course, he had over 90% blockage. I believe his left carotid artery had about 70% stenosis. Over the last 11 years he has had it checked annually. So far, the 70% stenosis has not gotten any worse. So I would advise you to try not to worry too much about it. Just continue to keep a check on it.
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"Men and nations will act rationally when all other possibilities have been exhausted."
Brenda, I am sorry that this has become a worry for you, I am somewhat confused because you say you have been on Lipitor and it has become worse. Everything we are suppose to believe is that Lipitor will help stop that and even say it will reverse it. I must tell you I am very skeptical. I took Lipitor and Lovastatin (not at the same time) but ended up with too many problems so stopped. I also am a women in her late 60's and I am reading too many reports that question whether an older women should even take statins. It seems when checking nursing homes they found that the women who lived to old ages were the ones that had higher cholesterol not lower. Perhaps you may look to your diet, is it high in saturated fats, keeping in mind that fat is not the evil that we all have been taught in the past, but rather the right fats have an important place in our diet, but really saturated fats are not good and will block arteries. I have a book by Dr. Johanna Budwig who is considered in Europe to be the authority on fats and she talks about the good fats and bad, bad being the ones that lack the electrons that have the spark of life in them. These are hydrogenated fats or fats that are now dead and these the body's puts in the arteries in an effort to get rid of them. We find them in packaged foods (cake mixes etc.) and fast food restaurants, the fat is killed in order to have shelf life. Your heart need fats, these fats go into the lymphatic system and when the used blood is injected into the right-hand ventricle of the heart each heart beat deposits lymphatic fluid into the blood this is the spark that the heart needs, but if no spark is there because of dead fats then it is rejected and end up in the arteries. Simplified version.
I'm also a bit confused now too, as U said, we were told statins decrease this problem, or even reverse it. Of course I have always said, if my husband took Lipitor for 7 years after his artery cleaning, how come the little they left isn't gone? It is the exact amount and in the same place as it was in 94 when he had the surgery. Brenda's problem seems to contradict what we have been led to believe.....Hmmmmmmm.
As far as the good fats, are U saying the hydrogenated fats are suppose to be the good one? I always thought if something said partially hydrogenated it was no good. Seems the more I read, the more confused I get, but hey, at 64 maybe my mind is going.......
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Brenda, I don't know how long they let it go before they do surgery, but in 94 they found my husbands right side 90-95 % blocked, even though he had perfect cholesterol and was never on a statin until after the cleaning. I forget the name of the surgery, but we call it a Roto Rooter job, which I know is becoming more and more popular instead of the anigoplasty. All I remember is the dr. inserted something that took out the plaque, he then inserted the balloon to make sure everything was totally clean. There was a lil blockage on the left side, but they didn't bother with it, as it was small and they were more concerned about the right side. So far, so good, as he has an image exam at least once every 2 years, and his last one was in Jan. 05, and things looked fine, but that lil bit on the left is still there. It hasn't gotten bigger and he has no discomfort, so they are just keeping an eye on it. No, he doesn't take statins any longer, as they caused him alot of problems, but he did take them for 7 years, and obviously it didn't clean what lil plaque was left, so that therory of statins cleaning arteries doesn't fly with me!
I certainly hope all goes well and U get more info. from your drs. as to just what is going on. Take care, and keep us posted......
Sorry, I couldn't edit my post for some reason, but my husband had the surgery on his left side, not the right, and the lil plaque that is left is on the right side. His last image test was a Mibi image test, think it is one of the newer machines out now.
As Arizona said, I believe, unless U are having problems, they don't do the procedure unless it is at least 75 % blocked, but each dr. is different, so U might want to ask your dr. Hubby was having a little shortness of breath and alot of coughing, but kept saying it was his sinuses. This went on for about 8 months, so I went with him to his next drs. appt. as I knew he wouldn't mention it to the dr., so I did. After a week they did the catherization which showed the blockage, so a week later he went in and had the procedure. Like I said, it has been 11 yrs. now, and he seems to be doing just fine. I believe the lil plaque he still has on the right side is about 25%, so they just keep an eye on it, as it has been the same for 11 years now. Just try to relax, as I am sure if it was serious your dr. would say something.
BTW, this is what I found about when they feel it is necessary:
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The surgery has been found highly beneficial for persons who have already had a stroke or experienced the warning signs of a stroke and have a severe stenosis of 75 percent to 99 percent.
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