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- Joined
- Jul 17, 2007
- Messages
- 458
hate to break it to you, but you didnt really improve your cholesterol much... except for the VLDL
absolute cholesterol numbers are irrelevant... a high LDL per se is not "dangerous", just like a low HDL alone isnt.
its the HDL to LDL ratio which matters.
you reduced your LDL by about 20%
and reduced your HDL by about 20% too.
thats no improvement at all actually
however whats good is that VLDL went down a whole lot. this is positive.
good job on fixing the other factors which were off too
btw, drop the "chewable cholesterol blockers". that stuff is a scam...
the cholesterol you consume from food is pretty much irrelevant regarding your cholesterol levels. your body regulates cholesterol via different pathways.
cholesterol from food makes up 10% AT BEST of your blood cholesterol numbers... its completely irrelevant.
there are numerous studies on that if you look around
the only things that help with cholesterol are citrus bergamot and niacin (nicotinic acid, not niacinamide!. in high dosages though (1-2g a day)). you can pretty much ditch everything else regarding cholesterol.
statins are shit too imo (including the red yeast rice stuff, you got that rightthe "new" stuff does not even contain the statins anymore)
Good points. But remember the VAP that I had done there was when I was middle of the road at 235 total. Even though I didn't have a VAP done on my last one when the total is 197 the doc said he was sure that the other levels (especially VLDL-3) showed an improvement.
Basically what he told me was that at the second test (235) the only thing that he was worried about was the VLDL-3 being a 13. He said it needed to be under 10. But without a VAP test when my levels was 275 and when my levels was 197, it is hard to really see the changes. That the biggest concern nowdays with cholesterol was not the levels, but the particle size and their %.
My doc is very good. Former BBer and now a triathlete at 56 years old. (And he has cholesterol issues as well so I know he has first hand experience with dealing with it). Basically what he told me to keep in mind for the future :
1 - Getting blood work regularly is a good thing, but always get the VAP test down too. If you choose the little $52 cholestrol lipid test from PrivateMDLabs like I did on the first and third test, you are just wasting your money because it is not telling you everything. Pay the extra $ and get ALL the info. Better to have it and don't need it, than to need it and don't have it.
2 - Cholesterol studies now are focusing more on particle size and percentages than they are on overall cholesterol numbers.
3 - Statins themselves are changing. He is working with Pfizer on a new injectible cholesterol medication that you take once every two weeks and it eliminates all the sides (like the morning leg pains, etc..) that everyone suffers from now with things like Lipitor. He said there are 3 companies out there making this injection but it is all the same thing. He recommends Pfizer for no other reason than he is involved with their research, he is on it himself and his patients are able to get it free.
He said that he is confident that I am in good shape but just to make sure I have to go and get a chest scan that will revel any build up in my arteries. $80 (insurance doesn't cover it) is not a lot of money for something that could detect future problems.
