Anyone else out there with extremely high lipoprotein (a)?

to MAYOCONNECTUSER1 I'm a retired health teacher and have studied nutrition since 1978. As for the the podcasts, they are from well educated, experienced doctors. And their information is science based. The doctors have decades and decades of experience in their specialty fields and I trust them. Let's compare that my own doctors at NYU Langone doing absolutely nothing, and who don't even know I have steatosis because they never saw it noted by the radiology Dr who interpreted my lung cat scan. And my doctors only want to look at LIPIDS and tell me to take statins when they are unaware of the whole picture and have no way to address the fat in my liver. They only care about the statistics they plug into the computer telling them my risk factors in 10 years of having a heart attack or stroke. I'm addressing the root cause of the lipids and cholesterol. I don't eat barrels of saturated fat.
I eat a pristine diet of whole foods so was shocked to read on a LUNG CT scan I have steatosis of the liver. I personally thanked the radiologist. I'm doing it my way - Naturally and Slowly. I had a holistic doctor ask for 33 vials of blood and I see him today, Oct. 1 2024, for his analysis of the reports. I have seen the blood test results and have learned how much I didn't even know about my body but it's all making sense. I've studied research papers from medical websites. I understand the reasons why things are going on and ways to correct them. The crashing after eating a meal - even a meal of healthy small portion of poached chicken breast in bone broth, 1/2 cup steamed cauliflower and a salad with no dressing. The INSULIN test was 30.8. and should be 18. I have insulin resistance. So listening to Dr. Eric Berg and his podcasts with reputable doctors on his podcast and by him sending me guides for free on the KETO diet have been appreciated. My own doctor is disappointed that I continue to refuse a statin. She is fear based She has protocols to follow at the University based medical system. Years ago, I've tried Crestor and Lipitor and my legs were in so much pain I had to stop. My doctor doesn't trust that I'll find my way through gentle natural ways which even includes forgiving all the people who have harmed me. Meditation, and being diligent and disciplined every single day. The liver is the seat of "Anger". My neuropathy is very bad so I cannot run but am slowly moving my body and sitting down using hand weights. I'm 5 foot 10. 74 years old. I've gone from 1/1/24 - 207 lbs. down to 10/1/24 - 184. I have 20 more lbs. to go. I consume zero sugar. zero white refined flours and rice. Now I'm phasing into the next stage and after my meeting with the holistic doctor, he'll set me up with the correct exact food plan and supplements - of which I take many, already. Niacin and NAC are faithfully consumed every day. I've dropped 102 points in triglycerides in 2 months. You sound well intended, but a real "Doubting Thomas", just like my Primary Care doctor. I even bought a body composition scale that SHOWS me 12 different measurements inside my body. I'm thoroughly committed in my own recoveries. thank you for replying.

lindy,

It is great you have taken control of your weight and health.

I continue to be concerned about self-help medicine; while it may seem appropriate, in many cases those involved are someone blinded by their opinions of complex topics, and by their desire to be in charge.

Your dismissiveness regarding those who are trained and experienced, and your support for podcast doctors is troubling, as well.

Please be careful.

Maybe Dr. Dean Onrush?

Sorry, Dr. Ornish, not Onrush...

YES! Dean Ornish

You can also save your own life that way, as I have a couple of times. Once when I was approaching menopause and my OBGYN announced that at my next visit she would probably put me on the Pill. I said I wouldn't do that without doing some research, since there were cases of blood clots in my mother's family, including my mother. She said, it's only 1 in 10,000, that's very unlikely. I did the research and decided not to take the Pill.
I had a gall bladder removal later from the surgeon who invented the minimally invasive technique (yes, I researched him) and it turned out my GP, who had failed to diagnose the gall bladder issue in the first place, was pooh-poohing my idea that my very painful leg post-surgery might be a clot. The misdiagnosis had meant the surgery was late, and I had gangrene - and every last bit of it had to be scraped out, a difficult thing this surgeon had never done before. The GP did not order an ultrasound and so I started looking up vascular doctors in Best Doctors. I got a referral from an assistant to a doctor who turned out to be researcher - she said there was a great vascular guy at NYU. He sent me immediately for an ultrasound - in a wheelchair - and the scanner inadvertently let out a yelp. She said I had a giant clot in my thigh and he would probably keep me in the hospital. The vascular guy was furious - do you realize you could have died at any point in this journey? I did, actually, which is why I didn't give up and take my doctor's word for it. After a week in the hospital I was released and had to find a new doctor right away. It wasn't until 2000, just after the Genome Project was completed, that I had a knee replacement and got a fully clotted leg after the surgery. My GP hired an outside consultant over the objections of the surgeon, and that man sent off a blood sample to somewhere far away on his hunch I might have a genetic clotting factor - Factor 5, in fact. I probably owe my life to that GP, the one whose patient I became after the first clot.
Science isn't cast in stone, it constantly evolves - and doctors have experience with their own patients and those of their colleagues. Word gets around. You need to be sure you're not inadvertently putting yourself in some unknown danger, so you can't just diagnose yourself and then treat yourself.
The women with the highest cholesterol live the longest, according to a monster review of cholesterol studies cited by Gary Taubes, if that's any comfort.
A lot of doctors ARE independent thinkers but most of them are swamped with work, keeping up with their field - a full-time job - and the requirement to stick to the guidelines for their institutions and they just can't afford that luxury.
You do of course NEED to work with a doctor and there are networks of them, as there are networks of researchers, some of the ones on your list.

This is a sad but great story!
Thank you for sharing!!

Have you tried Bio Identical Hormones yet? Probably not I would guess! I bet that will start you on the right path. Sounds like most of your troubles are caused by a lack of hormones. I too studied and have been interested in my body/nutrition since 1970's and seen fads come and go.
1) vitamin D was the key to lowering my AIC and raising my D which brought me out of insulin resistance 15 years ago. ALL WOMEN need this when they are postmenopausal.
2) Try LEVQIO - I LOVE IT. 2x a year to lower/stablize LPa. NO STATINS for ME! It also lowered my cholesterol. My dad took and handled statins well - I experienced the muscle pain/weakness of which you spoke after 3 weeks. The LEVQIO might raise your LPa score in the first year as it loosens the plaque. (mine did and is now 3 points below its start). Don't be too freaked out yet, its all new (the LPa). I have always watched my diet. My dad, cousins all had heart attacks and strokes in their 50s. I am in great condition with 3 clear and one artery 1/3 blocked. Cholesterol down to 187.
I use a mix of Eastern and Western meds and treatments.
My diet is FODMAP related ( IBS)
I take fewer supplements than ever before as my body is now balancing at 67. The hormones are the key - for me. I did the reading and topicals and restarting them at 67 saw an improvement in everything!

wow. what a story. I have similar. What I say is that I'm lucky to be "rescued" at the perfect time. Because medicine evolves. You kiss a lot of frogs to get to the prince (if you don't die in the process!) and then you help others. High cholesterol might keep some alive (I watched a PBS documentary) but those of us with cardiovascular disease markers - it kills. So low cholesterol it must be for sure.
Yes, gotta to find your "princes (princesses) in the medical world!

Yes!! to bio-identical hormones! That's what I learned when I researched the Pill question (I turn 86 in a couple of weeks, so this was a much bigger mystery then for me). I've been on either Armour thyroid or compounded thyroid and Biest (80-20) ever since.
There is a lot more individual biochemistry than one might imagine. My father too had his first heart attack in his 50s, and several more before he died at 89. He had low blood pressure, while everyone else in the family had high blood pressure.
I also learned that I am incredibly sensitive to carbs - first from a medical psychic in California, soon confirmed by an actual doctor who told me I was pre-diabetic. In the course of eating low-carb I had to deal with a number of other doctors who swore this would kill me. I thought they could be right, so I needed to research fats. That's how I discovered that the most important factor was fat: and surprisingly to many, it turns out that the healthiest fat is natural fat in its natural state, not
processed or manipulated. This fat is crucial for basic health - the function of hormones, absorption of some vitamins and other nutrients, and the cell walls themselves. Butter. Olive oil. Macadamia oil. Coconut oil. Not seed oils or "vegetable oil", which is banned in my kitchen but ubiquitous everywhere else. Fortunately I had a good friend who was a major figure at the Howard Hughes Institute in Berkeley who could explain to me that the good natural fats protect our cell walls and keep them flexible. Oxidized fat is very bad for this process - and the research on eggs, for instance, was done on powdered eggs for convenience in the lab, which is probably how eggs became the devil, despite the fact that the healthiest people in the world, the Japanese and the French, also eat the most eggs. I published a book on my research and was lucky to get an introduction from Dr. Barry Sears at Harvard, a leading figure in the field of fats research. I still think the quality of the fats in your diet is the single most important element.
Later I went to a noted diagnostician at UNC who famously threatened to sue anyone who tested his cholesterol levels. He gave me some unusual tests but didn't find anything unusual. I banned cholesterol tests too, though I allow them now that I know more is better for most women - but yes, not for those who have genetic cholesterol disease.
I will check out LEVQ10 - thank you!!