Hacker News Reader

Comment by Loughla | Hacker News Reader

I've eaten oatmeal for breakfast, have a heart healthy diet, and exercise regularly. My total cholesterol and especially LdL are always massively high.

My body hates me.

View on HN

I have high cholesterol, have had for more than a decade. Was on a statin, they didnt help. Doubled them, they didnt help. Changed my diet radically, lost 25 lbs (I was a little overweight, but not bad), ate full medeteranian diet and did everything I could, my numbers didnt budge. Changed to a stronger one and within two weeks my numbers were perfect.

I believe for some of us its purely genetic.

"Changed to a stronger one"

Changed to a stronger one what?

I assumed they meant a stronger statin.

yes, changed to a stronger statin.

There are some people who just have high cholesterol but none of the other risk factors. I'm one of them. I did a calcium score on my heart, and it came back clean. The cardiologist basically said my cholesterol is just part of who I am, and it's not causing problems.

If you're similar to me, you might want to get a second opinion. There are different kinds of LdL cholesterol, and the small, dense particles are the ones that cause blockages. Big puffy ones don't. I have mostly big puffy ones, but classifying them is a different test that has to be special-ordered.

I also have a very low resting heart rate, exercise regularly, have a high VO2Max, and have a healthy diet. So the claim that I was at major risk of a cardiac episode just didn't pass the smell test. If it wasn't for those things, I probably wouldn't have asked questions when my doctor said I should go on a statin.

unfortunately im not in the same situation. I have a high incidence in my family, my calcium score wasn't clean (especially for someone my age) and my vo2max isnt the best either. Though my many stress tests have always been fine.

I don't think im in terrible shape right now, but looking ahead 10 to 20 years, without medical intervention I probably would be.

What does “Changed to a stronger one” mean?

yes, changed to a stronger statin.

My LDL is stuck between 145 and 155 permanently. Same for my mom and aunts. Oatmeal, exercise, etc. doesn't help.

I'm still young so my doctor isn't terribly concerned, but in 10 years I'll probably have to be on statins.

You should question this and advocate for yourself. The important number is total lifetime exposure to LDL (actually apoB, but doctors aren't routinely testing that yet). The arterial damage is cumulative. You shouldn't wait until you are at high risk of cardiac events to take action. The time to slow down the progression is now.

I'm just replying based on taking your comment at face value. LDL of 150 is very high and living with that for many years is very damaging. Obviously it's something between you and your doctor, I'm just encouraging you to consider and get reasoning from your doctor about whether this approach is really best for your health.

It's a borderline kinda thing. He said if it was consistently in the 160s he would probably recommend them. My previous doctor was basically in the same camp but had me taking blood tests every 3 months for a year to see if it was stuck there.

What do you mean by heart healthy diet?

Egg whites, lean meats, etc? Strict whole food plant based?

Mediterranean but also I like a good beef dish occasionally, so mostly Mediterranean with the occasional filet or tacos de lingua or something.

The Mediterranean diet is something of a myth, some Mediterranean countries fair quite well on the life expectancy, CHD, and CVD figures, some not so much.

Additionally the data used are considered suspicious in the case of at least Italy to my recollection.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com