Lowering My Cholesterol

It’s been a while since I wrote anything here - but I am still alive and kicking.

After a few problems with Inegy and Crestor - I was eventually put on Ezetrol (ezetimibe) which works by reducing the cholesterol absorbed from the gut. I am not sure if this drug will be having much effect because my diet is usually fairly good anyway - i.e low in fat.
I had a bit of a scare at Christmas when I was getting lots of chest pains. I ended up in A&E on Christmas Day to see what the heck it was. With the family history and high BP history - I was kept in for tests. The final diagnosis was inflammation of the lining of the heart - Pericarditis. While I was in I had an angiogram which was all fine. My cholesterol was 5.1 - which is not too bad. 

I don’t worry as much about the cholesterol now - but keep taking the Ezetrol and try to keep off the fatty foods  most of the time. 

I found an article  from the UK Daily Mail - which basically says that all the hype about cholesterol and statins and heart disease is a load of rubbish - pushed by the drug companies to make more profit. The author has written a book - and seems to know his stuff. He explains how all the theories about diet and cholesterol and heart disease can be disproven . Makes me think about coming off the statins. I have only been on them for 10 weeks - and haven’t noticed any real problems . But I have had more headaches and a runny nose and I was vomiting  yesterday for no apparent reason. I also feel tired all the time. None of these are severe — but maybe it is the statins causing it.

Full article here..

Have we been conned about cholesterol? | the Daily Mail

Many products containing oats claim to lower cholesterol. I found out that the "active" ingredient is beta-glucan soluble fibre.  In order to ba able to declare that a product containing oats can lower cholesterol - oat products must contain at least 0.75 g beta-glucan soluble fibre per serving, or in an amount that is customarily consumed in a day that makes a reasonable contribution to a healthy diet.

One study showed that 3g of beta glucan fibre could lower cholesterol levels by abou 7% and LDL by about 10%.
Not major changes - but every little helps.

I also found this useful bit of research about Cholesterol levels:

If you total cholesterol level lowers by 0.6 mmol/l, your risk of having a stroke is reduced by half. This fall in cholesterol also lowers the risk of having a heart attack by one-fifth.

 ( Law MR, Wald NJ, Thompson SG. By how much and how quickly does reduction in serum cholesterol concentration lower risk of ischaemic heart disease? BMJ. 1994; 308: 367-372.
 )

Another target to aim for?

Evidence strongly indicates that high cholesterol levels can cause narrowing of the arteries (atherosclerosis), heart attacks, and strokes. The risk of coronary heart disease also rises as blood cholesterol levels increase. When other risk factors, (such as high blood pressure and cigarette smoking), are present, this risk increases even more.
In atherosclerosis, deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and other substances build up in the inner lining of an artery. This build up is called plaque, and it usually affects arteries of small and medium size. The flow of blood through these arteries is restricted as the inside diameter is reduced. Clotting of the blood, which often happens in the coronary arteries during a heart attack, is most likely to develop when arterial walls are roughened by such plaques.

My father had a heart attack aged 42 - he survived - and had to have to double by-passes before he was 60. He eventually had a stroke at 72 and died at age 76.

‘BAD’ LDL-  low density lipo-protein cholesterol is the most commonly found cholesterol in our bodies. Although our bodies need LDL-cholesterol to transport cholesterol from the liver where it is made, to the cells where it is needed, too much of it can block up our arteries.

‘GOOD’  High Density Lipo-protein HDL-cholesterol makes up about a third of the cholesterol in our blood, It is known as good cholesterol because it can carry excess cholesterol away from our arteries and back to the liver, where  it is broken down and recycled.

Your cholesterol number indicates the total level of cholesterol in your blood. Cholesterol levels are usually measured as TOTAL CHOLESTEROL LEVELS (total amount of ‘GOOD’ and ‘BAD’ cholesterol). Raised cholesterol is not an illness in itself, but it is associated with a number of illnesses. Like high blood pressure, a raised total level of cholesterol or a raised level of ‘BAD’ LDL-cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease and strokes. That’s why it is important to KNOW YOUR NUMBER as this will allow you to manage your cholesterol levels.

Five used to be the level of total cholesterol that people aimed to be lower than.
Lleading UK heart doctors now recommend that the previous target of 5.0mmol/l should be regarded as a minimum standard. The new target of below 4 is the optimum standard for total cholesterol (ie the ideal level) based on the latest evidence highlighting the benefits of treating to this target.