I just got the news - high cholsterol

[Csquared]

My test results were :

6.27 total cholesterol she says should be below 5.2
4.43 LDL should be below 3.4
1.15 HDL apparently that's fine
1.52 tri thats good too

I already take high vitamin C but now I need to add lysine 2000-6000mg per day I guess.

I told my doctor I would try to lower my cholesterol myself but if it didn't work in three months
I would go on Crestor as she recommended.

I will improve my diet and start exercising and if anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears.

Thanks
Dan

[Ralph Lotz]

I will improve my diet and start exercising and if anyone has any other suggestions I'm all ears.

Hopefully you have eliminated all sucrose, fructose and high fructose corn sweeteners from your diet!
See comments about Winitz in Pauling's How To Live Longer and Feel Better.

Did you know that people with the highest cholesterol levels live the longest?
I haven't had mine checked in years. (age 63)
http://www.westonaprice.org/The-Benefit ... terol.html

[Csquared]

ok I really don't know what to think after reading that about high cholesterol being good. I know medical science doesn't have all the answers but people are dying of heart attacks and if we can't tell from cholesterol levels then what indicators do we have that we are at risk for a heart attack or stroke?

Also interesting about sugar, I know I eat too much. What if the sugar is fermented?

[Lemonaid]

Lp(a)

[bbtri]

Fish oil might help.

[ofonorow]

ok I really don't know what to think after reading that about high cholesterol being good. I know medical science doesn't have all the answers but people are dying of heart attacks and if we can't tell from cholesterol levels then what indicators do we have that we are at risk for a heart attack or stroke?

According to Linus Pauling, the biggest risk factor is your vitamin C intake (or rather the lack thereof.) I've consolidated some of the contrary thinking about cholesterol in these articles:

http://www.internetwks.com/owen/TruthChol.htm

http://www.internetwks.com/owen/fear.htm

As was pointed out, the important cholesterol number is Lp(a) which is rarely measured because a) Pharma has no medication to lower it, and in fact, b) cholesterol-lowering medications generally INCREASE Lp(a). According to Pauling/Rath, Lp(a) is a "sticky" form of LDL cholesterol that adheres to damage in arteries that eventually results in the healing process we call "altherosclersosis."

Crestor, by the way, is perhaps the most dangerous of all statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. See: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=1543

[godsilove]

Crestor, by the way, is perhaps the most dangerous of all statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. See: http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/pressroomredirect.cfm?ID=1543

The article is from 2003, so some of the information is outdated. For example, it says that "has not been shown to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes" when it now has for certain patient types.

But I think that given that there is a small but significant risk of rhabdomyolysis, statins should be avoided if cholesterol can be managed by diet and exercise, and if there are no other risk factors.

Csquared - is high LDL cholesterol your only risk factor? Keep in mind that unless you are at high or intermediate risk of having a heart attack or other cardiovascular event, the benefit of statins is miniscule.

[Csquared]

Yes apparently the LDL is the only risk factor, bumping up my total cholesterol on its own.

I have been taking 2 teaspoons of ascorbic acid per day at least for a few years now, but I do have a bit of a sweet tooth
and hearing that sugar impedes vitc absorption, well my diet is changing so we will see.

Yes I'm thinking even if my cholesterol doesn't go down in three months I still won't take Crestor.

Might piss off my doctor though

[ofonorow]

http://crestorlawsuit.lawinfo.com/frequ ... tions.html

And there is a new lawsuit for those harmed by zocor and vytorin.

[twowheelfree]

Well, now, I have had cholesterol over 250 for going on 20 years and I am still kicking. Of course, the the big pharma pimps (excuse me, I mean docs) have been after me to take meds. Half people that have heart attacks have cholesterol that are at or below their "ideal" target count. So much for the cholesterol being the main demon. My entire family have high numbers and my mom died her eighties, although with congestive heart failure. It was really hard to watch her go that way. We will see if my numbers have changed. I have made the following changes:
Starting September 2009, I added grapeseed oil along with olive oil in making my salad dressings
Starting Dec 2009, I added coconut oil to the grapeseed and olive oil in my salad dressings. And about 5 days a week, I put about 3 TB coconut oil in oatmeal for breakfast. Both coconut and grapeseed oil have been swept under the rug but are reputed to be good for regulating cholesterol.

[BaronZemo]

I took extra virgin cocunut oil in gel caps and my thyroid became underactive

[Csquared]

The interesting thing is that my blood pressure is almost abnormally normal - I think normal is 120\80 and I am almost exactly that. Yet my
cholesterol is high.

[ships04]

Don't get to neurotic about your cholesterol level ,my last reading was 355 or 9.1 and will certainly not go again on statins ,having tried most varieties over the last twenty years,have been off them now for five years and would not want the side kicks from them again .will carry on with my Vit c of ten grms p d .

[Csquared]

It's sounding to me that the medical field doesn't quite have the heart attack puzzle figured out, so as
usual we as citizens have to take matters into our own hands.

Someone told me he takes a tablespoon or 2 of extra virgin olive oil a day for his high cholesterol and
has been doing that for more than a decade.

[godsilove]

It's sounding to me that the medical field doesn't quite have the heart attack puzzle figured out, so as
usual we as citizens have to take matters into our own hands.

Someone told me he takes a tablespoon or 2 of extra virgin olive oil a day for his high cholesterol and
has been doing that for more than a decade.

It doesn't sound as though you have many risk factors for heart disease apart from the high LDL-cholesterol. Do you have a family history of heart disease?