Is Your LDL below 78?

My MD told me if I can get my LDL below 78 that my heart disease will begin to reverse. I would like to know how many people have a LDL of 78
or lower. Thanks.

Nope,
But not far off, an 82 last year and a 90 the year before.

I really don't think that it is necessary to have an LDL that low. Lp(a) is most likely the real culprit.

Originally Posted by donsabi

My MD told me if I can get my LDL below 78 that my heart disease will begin to reverse. I would like to know how many people have a LDL of 78
or lower. Thanks.

My LDL is around 65-70 and I accomplished that with 10 mg Crestor and 5 mg Zetia (1/2 dose). I also think that LDLs around 70 can arrest any cardiovasular (arteriosclerotic) disease. Not sure about REVERSAL, but I suspect it may accomplish that to a degree as well. Combined with a desireable HDL (mine is equal to my LDL), I think it may very well reverse arteriosclerosis. I'm certainly willing to take that bet.

Oh,
let's all PRAY for the reversal!

Originally Posted by donsabi

My MD told me if I can get my LDL below 78 that my heart disease will begin to reverse. I would like to know how many people have a LDL of 78
or lower. Thanks.

It really depends on how much fat, and how much I overeat. I can take mine as low as 55 mg/dL, and as long as I exercise, and maintain my weight, I am capped at 84 mg/dL. The difference was that my HDL that corresponded with the 55 LDL was 44 mg/dL or less, while my HDL that comes with the 84 mg/dL LDL is generally > 60 mg/dL. All of this is unmedicated (now).

I am not sure what study your MD is quoting by the 78 mg/dL figure? It's just not that simple. There are more factors that come into play than just the distribution of low density lipoproteins, e.g. plasma triglycerides, hs-CRP, Lp(a), ApoA1 and B, and particle sizes of all lipoproteins (LDLs, IDLs, HDLs).

At last calculation mine was 67. I believe there may be something to the reversal just from my own experiences. I was troubled by recurrent angina mainly at rest for 1 1/2 years following my stent and bypass. Suddenly the angina stopped. I believe it is in part due to reversal of my disease. I take 40 mg Zocor and have been on that dose approx. 3 years. My numbers have been excellent since about 10 months after taking the Zocor. My numbers were not all that bad when my blockage was first discovered anyway so I didn't have far to go to bring the numbers down to very good levels. At last calculation my Total cholesterol was 136, HDL 46, LDL 67 and trigs 113.

My Doctor strongly recommends for those with mild to moderate risk of heart disease to have an LDL at 70 (easier said than done). I'm at 130 so have a long way to go. However, I just read an article written by a Doctor who practices natural healing that a study indicated that 50% of heart attack patients had perfectly normal cholesterol levels. This is alarming. Two years ago I had a CT Heart Scan done at a non profit medical center for $250. It did indicate higher than normal plaque for someone my age but not life threatening. I had a score of 334 (400+ is crossing the danger zone). However, I'm 64 years old. Obviously, if I was 44 years old 334 would be very high. Doctors rarely recommend a CT Heart Scan so I went on my own without a prescription. I plan to have another one late this year. Prevention is the best medicine.

I don't take any statins or any other prescription drugs but I do take MaxEPA fish oil, alpha lipoic acid, biotin, folic acid and evening primrose oil supplements. I also do an hour a day of aerobic exercise and I brought my weight down to an ideal level.

Four years ago on my high carb low-fat AHA/ADA "Heart Healthy" diet my TC was 253 with an HDL of 29. At the time my doctor prescribed Lipitor which I never bothered to fill. Instead I decided to try restricting carbs, weight loss, exercise and eating more fat including saturated fats.

Low carb higher fat/protein diet: whole eggs, meat, chicken, fish, olive oil, green leafy/non starchy vegetables, nuts, berries, sunflower/pumpkin seeds. No sugar, flour, grains, trans-fats or pasta etc:

TC: 130
HDL: 50
LDL: 68
TG: 58