Blood Numbers

I know of a couple of my relatives who are interested in this information, so I thought I'd blog it in case others might be interested as well. I have, for several years, been aware of the fact that I have high cholesterol. It is a problem I inherited (I think). It runs in my family (in my opinion). That's why I have relatives who are interested. I have, for decades, been a pretty faithful runner and, more recently, bicycler. Nevertheless, I have carried high cholesterol numbers. At first I tried to control it in mainstream ways. We are always told "exercise and a low fat diet." I worked at that for years. Sadly, to no avail. Actually, my numbers simply got gradually higher. I first discovered the problem at a total cholesterol of 232. I continued my exercising and began watching what I ate - low fat, no fat, moderate amounts, etc. etc. etc. By late 2003 my weight had increased to 199, I felt lousy and even had the docs check out my heart a couple of times because of "chest sensations" - not chest pains, just "sensations." They found nothing wrong with heart but my blood numbers were getting higher. I think I had a 280-something test at one time.

Enter Dr. Atkins! When I hit 199 on the scales I decided it was time to do something different about my weight. Einstein is the one who defined insanity as "continuing to do the same thing and expecting to get different results." For some reason, though I'd never been on any sort of weight loss diet in my entire life, the idea of limiting a specific intake of something - calories or fat or something - made perfect sense to me. Dr. Atkins said that something was carbs. So, I went low-carb on January 1, 2004. New Year's resolution - lose weight! One thing Atkins said to do was have a blood test to establish where you were starting with your blood numbers. Remember, though, my motive for dieting was weight loss. He said your blood numbers would improve, but I considered that to be gravy (no pun intended). So, in Feb, 2004, I had my doctor check my blood. He found the following:
Total Cholesterol - 291
LDL - 184
HLD - 94
Triglyceride - 66
Total/ HLD ratio - 3.09

The weight loss program worked GREAT. I was very satisfied with every aspect of eating low-carb. I ignored the fat content of food and simply stayed away from carbs. I ate meat and nuts - both of which I love. I began to feel stronger and sleep better. I no longer needed a Tums to counter the acid I felt after EVERY meal. Marilyn told me I stopped snoring. Best of all, I lost weight. It was slow and deliberate, but it was real. By the end of 2004 I weighed 172. I have stayed there, easily. In November, 2004 I had my blood numbers checked again. I was hoping for similar success as I had experienced with my weight. But, alas, the readings were:
Total Cholesterol - 279
LDL - 176
HLD - 92
Triglyceride - 56
Total/ HLD ratio - 3.00

Improved - if you looked real close. Like with a microscope! [I might note that these only slightly improved numbers were, nonetheless, improved while ignoring - even disdaining - the idea of low-fat anything] So, it was time to do something else. Marilyn told me about Red Yeast Rice. I got on the Web and started reading. I discovered many things. One thing I came across was something that sounded better than RYR. It was a thing called Polycosonal. A quick summary of things I learned that I considered important are the source of blood cholesterol and how doctors try to control it. There are two sources of the cholesterol in your blood. One- what you eat. Two- your liver. What you eat accounts for 20% of the cholesterol in your blood. The other 80% is produced by your liver. So, the doctors treat your liver in an attempt to get the numbers down. They use statin drugs - Lipitor is the main one, but there are other brand names. It turns out the RYR is also a statin. But, it is a naturally produced statin rather than a chemical, like Lipitor. Polycosonal is not a statin and has not been found to have any impact on the liver. It has been found to reduce LDL as much as Lipitor and increase HDL - which is good and which Lipitor does not do.

So, with the above blood numbers, I started taking Polycosonal in December, 2004. I ignored my doctor's prescription for Lipitor and began with 10 mg/day. Everything I had read said 20mg/day was the best dosage. In March, 2005 (four months later) I had my numbers checked again. The results:
Total Cholesterol - 263
LDL - 174
HLD - 81
Triglyceride - 47
Total/ HLD ratio - 3.25

The doc again prescribed Lipitor. I told him I was going to double my Polycosonal dosage and see what happened. He kinda shrugged his shoulders. I was pleased to see some impact, but still not satisfied. I knew the time was approaching when I would have to do something that worked. My weight remained completely under control. And, for the first time, my blood numbers were improving - albeit, slowly.

Last week I went to have the numbers run again. This time my doc was on vacation. So, I was seen by his lovely PA, Molly. When I told Molly I wasn't taking Lipitor she was noticeably put-out with me. She asked me questions like "Do you exercise?" "Do you watch what you eat?" "How's your energy level?" I answered, "I run 3 miles-a-day 4 or 5 days-a-week." "Yes" "Great." Then her last question was, "If this blood test shows the Polycosonal isn't working would you be willing to take Lipitor?" I answered "I'd have to think about it." She left me with this factoid "All we can do is show you the numbers and recommend what you need to do. We can't force you to do it." My unspoken response was "You got that right, Cutey." Today the blood numbers arrived:
Total Cholesterol - 250
LDL - 154
HLD - 89
Triglyceride - 37
Total/ HLD ratio - 2.80

The recommendation from the doc (or the PA, I don't know which), "Continue with Polycosonal, diet and exercise." The increased dosage, after five months brought the LDL down 19 points! It increased the HDL by 8 points.

I am now an advocate of low-carb eating for weight control and Polycosonal for cholesterol control. I am confident my numbers will be more improved in six more months. The target upper limit for LDL is 129.

There's my blood numbers story.