Feeling rather desperate at this moment. Just got my results back from yearly exam. Total Chol 252, LDL 171, Trig 205, HDL 48. Had my Dr run a CRP and it was 5.1 (2008 was 1.1). I am on a low carb diet, 57 years old male, 165 lbs 5'10". In great physical condition. Non smoker. For six years have taken 6000 units of Alaska salmon oil, co Q-10, C, B, and Picolinate. I gave up sugar and white flour, fast food and alcohol years ago. I do eat red meat, cheese, butter, raw milk and home raised chicken eggs.
I am now very concerned about my health. My dad had 10 brothers and over half of them had heart conditions. My mom's dad died in his fifties from a stroke.
My Dr keeps pushing me to go on statins..I wont do that unless it is the last resort.
My thoughts are start niacin 1500 mg daily. Exercise even more than I am now (currently three days a week hot intense yoga, Saturdays total physical out in the shop days), back off the red meat, reduce milk intake, more salads.
Should I be as worried as I am?
It can be tough to fight genetics, but it sounds like you are doing a great job of it.
One idea to consider, if you haven't already, is to have a Coronary Calcium Scan. That will give you a rough picture of your coronary arteries and, depending on the results of that, you could have a followup nuclear stress test to give a more detailed picture.
That way you can make a more informed decision on whether to continue staying off of statins.
........ is to have a Coronary Calcium Scan. ..........you could have a followup nuclear stress test to give a more detailed picture.
I don't know if it is named the same over in the US, but the Doppler ultrasound (Doppler echocardiography) would provide a clearer picture and probably be cheaper to have perfromed as well.
This procedure does not use X-rays.
CCS uses x-rays totalling anywhere between 2-8 millisieverts. ie: Upto 400 times the dose of a single chest X-ray.
The Xray dosage from the Nuclear Stress test equals ~150 times the dose of a standard chest X-ray. (3.0 millisieverts compared to 0.02 millisieverts)
Now, a few of them will make you glow green in the night......
Sincerely appreciate all of the advice. I have caught my breath and developed my plan for tackling this.
I pushed my doctor to retest my cholesterol and c-reactive in two weeks. It seems odd that my c-reactive would rise from 1.1 in 2008 to over 5 last week. Fingers crossed it was due to a cold I had. I have changed from my low carb soy bagels in the morning to a bowl of oatmeal. I have started on 1000mg of niacin and will boost to 1500 tomorrow. Added three tablespoons of virgin olive oil and I have added jogging to my physical exercise and I am on a no red meat low carb diet now.
If I can see a drop in two weeks in ldl an increase of any kind in hdl and my c-reactive drop to below 3, then i can feel confident I can get this back under control. And a second retest is scheduled for six months.
I shopped and found the "real" niacin. Non-coated, full flushing. I have been taking it with food and yes I get a deep flush. I want that red face, heavy tingling as it means it is working. Went to 1500 yesterday and just meant an afternoon flush now too. Motivation is a powerful ally
