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

Hi @gerhardus. I see this is your first post on Mayo Clinic Connect. Welcome! I am so glad you are around after your severe heart attack, able to join this discussion about elevated LP(a). You have found a good place to share experiences.

If you haven’t already, you may want to check out discussions related to your carnivore eating style. I am so glad it is working for you. I typed “carnivore diet” into the search box on the home screen and found several conversations.
- carnivore diet discussions: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/search/discussions/?search=Carnivore%20diet

Also, Mayo Clinic promotes long-term evidence based eating and provides good related information. Their perspective comes from what is proven to lower risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure. These are all positives for folks dealing with the additional risk associated with elevated lipoprotein (a).
- Examining meat-only diets: https://mcpress.mayoclinic.org/nutrition-fitness/a-meat-only-diet-is-not-the-answer-examining-the-carnivore-and-lion-diets/
- Mediterranean eating lifestyle: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801

What are your LP(a) levels?

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Hi, In August `21 I had a severe heart attack, it started +- 2 years before as angina which I misinterpreted as heart burn until the near fatal day. I am not going to go into my life story but just to give you some insight what I learned afterward. Any person developing a disease after two years old got the disease from what we did to our bodies, in most cases it is what we eat. As a child my parents would promise you a good hiding if you don`t it all your vegetables. And I grew up loving vegetables. After the heart attack I did some research and realized not every one s body can handle the same vegetables, but everyone can eat meat. During my you-tube searches I stubbled on what is called a carnivore diet, initially i dismissed all these carnivore you-tube clips and oneday curiosity overwhelmed me and I wanted to listen what these "stupid" people I thought can come up with. Today I am greatfull for curiosities sake. I advice you to visit the following you tube channels "Dr Ken Berry, no carb life". Here you will find shocking wonderful life chats regarding the carnivore diet telling you how this diet cured people with various diseases. It helped me with the truths and I am on no medication. Hope it helps. Greetings.

Thank you for this. Could you please direct me on how to remove questions I've made so I do not get any more unwelcome commentary and advice to my questions. I can't seem to figure out how to delete. I would appreciate your help on this. Every time someone comments it comes in to my email notifications even after I have hit UNsubscribe. I would like to leave the forum as it is not the right place for me. I have found an Lp(a) support group on fB that is more to my liking. Thank you.

Hi all, this is a gentle reminder about the purpose of Mayo Clinic Connect and the Community Guidelines (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/tab/community-guidelines/ ) that help keep the Mayo Clinic Connect community safe, supportive, inclusive, and respectful.

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You are very condescending and you are not helpful to me at all. You also do not respect my boundaries. I asked you to please stop sending comments to me, I do not want to hear from you. Thank you.

1) I am telling you that diet and exercise WILL bring your numbers down. I was replying to this: "Talking about diet is not helpful with genetic LDL and Lp(a). " We are a support group and I was offering support and first hand experience.
2) I was only speaking to my tactics dealing with anxiety as a CONSIDERATION - not to be condescending or insulting. I apologize for triggering you.
3) We are here because we all want help. I don't know everything about you and it takes many messages to sometimes hit the nail on the head. So, for example, you've just provided more information. Its important to know what you ARE doing and what you have done. I had university nutritional chemistry and I speak from understanding digestion and how lipids are broken down. Plus, inheriting CAD, plus negotiating my father's CAD for 25 - 30 years.
people tend to eat "low saturated" fats but don't realize that the other stuff they eat provides the COMPONENTS to make cholesterol MORE READILY. You might want to check into that science.
For some people statins do nothing. They will continue to build plaque even when the numbers are good. The doctors give them out like candy.
Climbing stairs is good - but the cardiologist told me that resistance/strength training is better.
There is a great book by Peter Attia my doctors all recommended it. "Outlives." Its like 600 pages and quite technical but does a wonderful job of thouroughly explaining heart and artery disease.
Now - you may not want to read what I took the time to write but it would be selfish to think someone else may not want to benefit from the info.
Inherited heart and artery plaque disease has to do with WHY the body is laying down plaque in the arteries not so much the cholesterol numbers.
You had said you didn't want to hear a lot of "bad stuff" so I was telling you the GOOD stuff. I am alive and beating the odds. I was trying to comfort you that there are options. And the more prepared you are before you get to to your cardiologist the better visit you will have.
4) Make sure you ask for all the tests - the calcium scores, the photographs of your heart and arteries. That is important. You don't have, and neither does your doctor, have enough to give you a good visit until they actually SEE the conditions of your artery walls. If you don't like my post, just pass it by.

No where did I say that diet is not important. I said that diet and exercise will not bring numbers down. I am 64 and just diagnosed, so I have lived all of my life without a cardiac event too. My numbers are very high. For the past 8 months I have been on a very low sat fat diet, I have never driven, I walk everywhere, climb stairs and my LDL number is higher now than before the beginning of the year. Respectfully, I was not asking you to comment your story and history. I also don't appreciate your comment " I have anxiety too - but I face it", implying that I don't. You and I are VERY different people, I would never have made the comment to someone that you made to me above. Please don't respond to me any more.

Don't fret! Get armed with info over the weekend so you can be focused for when everyone returns from the holiday! There is so much to know! Get books from the library or research online. Avoid the snake oil sales companies! you can start to work on your diet immediately! Lots of fruits and vegetables, lean chicken and fish, little lean pork almost no red meat, and get some exercise! Get rid of refined breads, cakes, pastas, rices and potatoes. Switch to whole grains, brown rice, red potatoes and quinoa brown rice pasta. Ask to be tested every 3 months to check the direction of your lipids. Get your A1C and glucose checked and adjust - even if it is "borderline." You will exert control over what you can going forward. At 58 you can find out if you HAVE clogged arteries and you can deal with it so you have a LONG and HEALTHY life. That is the good news! My dad had his first widow maker heart attack at 58 and he led a long full life to almost 90 WITH heart disease because he was an active participant in his health. My cousins were not so lucky because they wouldn't change bad habits. So there you have it! Start reading how to help yourself! and stay involved in your care and you won't have a bad outcome!

I will entirely disagree that diet isn't important with inherited familial coronary artery disease! I have been on a Mediterranean diet and EXERCISE my whole life and started testing cholesterol, triglycerides and whatever else I could get tested when I was 18! I missed the heart attacks and strokes that everyone in my family had in their 50s & 60s. There came a point where diet and exercise weren't enough (in my later 60s) but I had already laid the great ground work for keeping my lipid numbers low enough where they probably won't be the kind of issue they were for the rest of my family who inherited the disease. I have anxiety too - but I face it (I am not risk adverse). I go to all the doctors who will see me. I have an awesome cardiologist and he said to change to strength/resistance training now. I will do that. I dropped my triglycerides and cholesterol again by refining my diet. I acquired insulin resistence and asked for medicine. Now I am feeling much better and hope that now that my insulin is processing better it will help sustain what I need to keep my body mechanics in good shape. Statins did not work for me. My dad was on them for 25 years, 169 cholesterol and continued to have artery blockages all the way!