Re: cholesterol

Posted By CCF Cardio MD-SGM on January 12, 1998 at 15:06:53:

In Reply to: cholesterol posted by mike on January 08, 1998 at 22:17:27:







: I am a 41 year old male. 3 1/2 years ago my HDL was 17, LDL 240, tri 300, I had a heart cath. then and my arteries were like glass. I am now getting worried as I get older about clogged arteries do you have an opinion. Also I have smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 25 years. Although I have quit smoking in the last month.  THankyou



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Dear Mike,
At the risk of alarming you, I think its important to point out that you have several serious risk factors for coronary artery disease.  The lipid profile that you mention is significantly "out of whack".  This likely represents a type of "combined  hyperlipidemia"  where both the LDL is high and the triglycerides are high.  Of note, the HDL(good cholesterol) here is dramatically decreased, and things like inactivity, obesity, and cigarette smoking can contribute to low HDLs.  Other risks are operative in your case include the cigarette smoking, as well as being a 41-year-old man which entails additional risk
You  might want to have a blood sugar level checked.  Sometimes, diabetes causes lipid profile abnormalities that adopt this pattern.  Certainly, reducing your risk factors for coronary artery disease will lessen the chance of succumbing to a heart attack or stroke in the years to come. These risk factors include high blood pressure(get screened for this),  smoking (dont start-up again),  and addressing the cholesterol problem
Regarding the cholesterol, I recommend the following.  With the supervision of your physician, I would repeat a fasting lipid profile, like you did several years ago, in order to obtain a baseline at this time.  If the numbers remain in the prior range, you would do better to treat this cholesterol with a goal of reducing the LDL to under 160.  Large research studies have shown that in individuals with no known heart disease, there is a reduction in both heart attack rate and cardiac mortality when therapy with cholesterol lowing drugs is undertaken.  Usually, the recommendation is to try diet first, and then consider therapy with cholesterol-lowing medication if this fails.  
I hope this information has been helpful.   Replies posted in the Medhelp forum are for general purposes only.  Specific diagnoses and therapies can only be prescribed by your physician.