Family history and heart

[stryped]

I have an uncle (my dad's borther), he had to have multiple bypass at around age 38. My dad had a stint put in in his mid 50's and had to have bypass at age 60  believe. Both also were diagnosed with diabetes in their late 40's/50s. Both are now overweight. I dont think my uncle was overweigth when he had bypass. He was in the army and should have been fairly physically fit.

Anyway, I am now 36. I try to exercise. I am 6 feet tall and 167 lbs. 4 years ago I had a normal stress test (without dye) and a normal echo. This year I had a normal ekg.

I guess my question is, how can I be sure I dont have any blockages and at this point in my life, what tests do I need or precaustions do I need to take to ensure I dont have to go through a heart attack or bypass.

My blood pressure fluctuates but is usually around 123/70. Last year my chloresterol was 157,
trygkycerides 54,  HDL 54. (These numbers have fluctuated over the years).

Also, would a ekg show a blockage if there were one?

[lollynanda]

Here's an excellent website called world's healthiest foods .  on the sidebar on the left they list links to foods with all their nutrients and benefits, as well as nutrients,, and where you might find those foods.  They also have links to "cholesterol lowering" foods that lower LDL and raise HDL.  

[lollynanda]

You can push up the HDL's with exercise and diet.  Omega 3's (fish oils, walnuts, flax seed) and the usual keeping down the saturated fats, fried food, processed foods, will all help raise the HDL's, while also lowering the LDL's naturally.  I had bad reaction to Lipitor, which they had me on after the angioplasty, so also take Hawthorne (an herbal supplement), B vitamins (including B6,B12,folic acid), and other supplements to try and keep my cholesterol levels and arteries uninflamed and healthy. If this doesn't work, I'll have to try another statin, in a few weeks.  Keeping my fingers crossed.  

[lollynanda]

Yes, I finally did have symptoms that were severe enough to warrant a catheterization, yet even then still had normal ekgs!  Crazy. I really didn't have any symptoms until a month before the angioplasty/stent. They wanted to do a CT first, but it is costly and a lot of insurance carriers won't cover it, as jon pointed out.  I never had the nuclear stress test, but as Jon also already pointed out it is much more accurate than the regular one.
-Lauren

[erijon]

You are right to be concerned, family history is a very important risk factor in heart disease. The only way to know for sure is to have an cath done, but it is a very invasive procedure and carries a small risk of complications. Most cardiologists will not perform one without symptoms being present. There is also a 64 slice CT, but again their accuracy is being questioned and due to the cost most cardiologists won't order one without cause and almost any insurance company will deny paying for one. With your family history I'm confident you could get a Nuclear stress test, while not perfect it does have a 85% accuracy rate and is most likely your best next step.

Hope this helps.

Jon

[stryped]

How did they find the blockage? Did you have symptoms?

Any ideas on how to push up my HDL?

[lollynanda]

All of my ekg's were normal even when I had an extensive blockage.  But it sounds like you have the right idea.  You may or may not have the wrong genes, but it is wise to continue to keep your weight down, LDL's down, push your HDL's up a bit even more, and just keep monitoring your self with regular checkups.  I might add that diet and exercise are probably what kept me from being worse off than I was.  I developed  a pretty intense blockage at age 52, but had absolutely no damage to my heart, which was why the tests kept coming back normal.  Even though it masked a potentially dangerous situation, it probably saved my life, that I was in otherwise very good shape.