Cholesterol Management After MI & Angioplasty

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Current Postings on This Page (7):

• To raise HDL level seems to be a big issue for me. Now even after 1 year of life style changes (exercise, no smoking, medications, weight lost, strict to moderate diet control etc) My HDL level did not increased significantly. It went from 30 to 37 but again came back to 30 though i eat salmon twice a week, eat olives , olive oil, transfat free veg oil, flaxseeds, walnuts, almonds, oats, lost 10 KG, walk 30-40 minutes 4-5 days a week, 20MG Crestor but no significant success yet. Any ideas ? Both of my parents do not have such issue with HDL meaning if they take care it is raised for them.
H, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, October 9, 2012

• Dave thanks for sharing your experience. My own experience is something similar my cholesterol was never high before heart attack except Triglycerides which doesn't have that level of risk as compared to LDL meaning LDL is culprit for plaque buildup. Also cholesterol is not THE major risk factor it is one of the risk factor so CAD can be caused by some other risk factor regardless of statins or not. But still why doctor restricts to eat normal even if cholesterol is within limits with or without statins?? I mean even if you are eating transfat or saturated fat without raised cholesterol?
H, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, September 12, 2012

• I think people who deny that humans are helping cause global warming are delusional. The evidence is there. I think the evidence that statins can help people with heart disease is there. Recent evidence seems to show that high doses of statins can even reverse plaque buildup. Those who say otherwise are delusional. Imam one of those, though, who don't take a statin, even though I have CAD.I had a heart attack. I ate healthy foods, I didn't smoke, but I had extreme stress for two solid years before my heart attack, and my father had CAD. My cholesterol levels, now, if I didn't have CAD, would be normal. However, my LDLs are higher, according to current thinking, than they should be for someone with CAD.

So why do i not not take a statin? Because after my heart attack, when I took 40mg of Simvastatin, I still had plaque progression and needed two more stents. The statin obviously didn't work. (Estimate of several remaining blockages after the new stenting, called bumps by my cardiologist, was 20% per bump.) My cardiologist upped my statin dosage to 80mg, on the theory that would stop and maybe reverse plaque progression. I developed serious muscle pain, which coincided with the U.S's FDA recommendation not to take that 80mg dosage. I switched to another statin, 80 mg. Pain was reduced, but still there. I noticed if I did pushups, the first one really hurt. By the way, I had some rabdomyolosis about 1.5 years after my heart attack, after an extremely long, one-day bike ride, longer than I had trained for. Was there a connection between rabdo and my statin? I don't know, though I think it's possible. So some months ago, I stopped taking the statin. It took a while, however that first pushup doesn't hurt anymore. Yes, a statin might confer an extra level of protection against a heart attack. However, while I wear seat belts when I drive my car, I don't also wear a helmet, which would confer extra protection if I'm in an accident. I do wear helmet when I bike, but not when I walk, even though that would give me extra protection as a pedestrian. The odds of getting in another coronary accident - a heart attack, angina, etc. - are apparently greater with CAD than if I didn't have CAD. The odds, though, are still low, and even with statins, the overall mortality rate is going to be about the same as everyone else, on or off statins; on statins, I'll just die of something else, if not a heart attack. And I know what happens to me on high doses of statins. With my stents, my exercise, my healthy eating, with stress reduction, and by not smoking, I'm content with my chances of survival. For me, then, my cholesterol level is manageable without drugs.
Dave Wyman, Los Angeles, California, USA, June 29, 2012

• Aixrrr in California -- Under 200 mg/dL for total cholesterol is considered a good level. In any case, whether or not you need either bypass surgery or angioplasty is not determined by your cholesterol level, but by whether or not you have arterial blockages that are causing ischemia (lack of oxygen to the heart muscle), symptoms, whether you have stable or unstable angina, etc. This can only be determined via some type of stress testing and then angiography.
Angioplasty.Org Staff, Angioplasty.Org, May 7, 2012

• I have a cholesterol level of 174. Is it likely that i would need bypass surgery? Can you have 174 and still need something like a quadruple bypass?
aixrrr, California, USA, May 7, 2012

• HA in Saudi Arabia -- The American Heart Association published an article last December, "What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean." They recommend <200 mg/dL of total cholesterol, >60 mg/dL for HDL and <100 mg/dL for LDL. Triglycerides should be <150 mg/dL. These are the targets for lowering risk of heart disease. Obviously, if you have heart disease (already had a heart attack and angioplasty) you want to keep as closely as possible to these figures, although every individual is different.
Angioplasty.Org Staff, Angioplasty.Org, March 30, 2012

• What should be the ideal levels of cholesterol (TC, HDL, LDL & Triglycerides) including HDL-LDL ratio after MI followed by angioplasty?
HA, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, March 20, 2012

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