plaque

[deb0462]

On sept. 25 my husband, who is 49 had a heart attack and received a quadruaple by-pass. He had been complaining of chest pain heartburn and pain going down both arms to the elbow seinc mid april. They put him in the hospital for 4 days running test found nothing major some blockage but nothing to series for stents. then 6 weeks after bipass he was having bad just pain. We went to the hospital ekg and bloodwork was fine not having a heart attck the said. So the next day the did a heart cath found 4 blockages that needed stents, three that were just bipasted,another that wasn't toouch last time. the fourth bipassed on was blocked but not enough for a stent yet they said he would probally be back. He had quit smoking and eating right. I do not know is numbers now but in april ldl was 176 hdl 34 ad trig was 269. they have chaged statin to crestor and plavix to efferient. what else could be causing these blockages?

[ed34]

Very interesting, thank you.
I was reading something interesting last night about cholesterol, and Im kicking myself because I forgot to bookmark the website. I was reading that if HDL is raised to a certain level it has the ability to remove fats from arteries, which includes raw exposed fats. It has this ability apparently because it removes the excess not used by cells and in the brain. It also went on to explain how plaque can also be removed naturally by the body using certain molecules made to control calcium levels for bone growth/repair. The calcium in the plaque can be broken down and the remaining substances such as damaged red/white blood cells etc can be filtered out safely. Much research has started on this apparently and they hope to get to the bottom of atherosclerosis once and for all, preventing it rather than fighting it. I only managed to get half way thru the document and lost my connection, it was so frustrating.

[erijon]

From the American College of Cardiology;

"Statins do have modest affects on plasma HDL-C, increasing concentrations by anywhere from 5% to 10%, providing a secondary benefit to this therapy beyond LDL-C reduction."

I was under the same impression as you until I read this story, "What Evidence Supports Raising HDL Levels to Prevent CHD, Including Existing and Experimental Therapies?" in Cardiosource. The article does state that Niacin combined with statins has even a greater effect on HDL than statins alone.

Just an FYI........

[ed34]

Cholesterol is usually targeted from two angles, firstly by diet and secondly by limiting the Livers ability to manufacture the lipids. I think I read somewhere that Statins actually reduce the manufacture of ALL lipids, not just LDL, but HDL too. However, there is a third targeting method which is to reduce the absorbtion of fats through the gut. Although diet only accounts for around 25% of cholesterol in the blood, this is still a significant amount. There are medications which reduce this absorbtion and it had dramatic effects on my cholesterol. Still taking statins to target the liver, I was also prescribed Ezeterol (ezetimibe 10mg).

[erijon]

Ed is correct, your husband's cholesterol numbers are not where they need to be. to put it in perspective, some one with CAD should have an LDL under 70 and an HDL over 50. Is there a family history of hypercholesterolemia in his family? If so, his doctor may need to get more aggressive on lowering cholesterol. He needs to be living a healthy lifestyle with a heart friendly diet and exercise as allowed by his cardiologist. Statins won't always work alone, he needs to do his part as well or it will take considerably more intervention to slow the progress of his heart disease.

Good luck,

Jon

[ed34]

It is very difficult to quantify what is causing the disease. However, from speaking to other heart patients and my own experiences, it does seem that slowing the problem down, stopping the progression, seems to take quite some time. Although I feel sure removing most of my stressful outlook on life paid a big part, it could have been a mixture of several things. All I know is that it took over a year. Some people never seem to be lucky and the disease keeps persisting.
ldl cholesterol in april was pretty high, too high for heart disease. In the UK they aim for a maximum ldl of 134.
Trigs max is 154
Hdl min is 57

I think the cardiologist or gp should be looking more aggressively at reducing his cholesterol. What dosage of crestor is he on?