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Tips on raising HDL?
I’ve always had cholesterol issues. I had a clean nuke stress test and am on statins. Good calcium score of 7. However, my doctor wants to increase my statins from 40 to 60 to get them below 70 (they are 82). I am 61 and about ten pounds overweight, trying to lose it. My HDL is 53. I exercise 150 minutes a week or more. I keep my exertion (treadmill or elliptical) for a minimum of 117 and try to stay between 128-135 for four minute, then 120, etc. Interval training is my goal for at least 45 minutes to an hour. My doctor recommended that I aim for a higher heart rate longer to boost my HDL. I get a little anxious about feeling winded and as a worrier, wonder if a nuclear stress test is really accurate. She says I did well and things look normal. Any tips for boosting HDL? I’ve added more veggies, fruit, fiber to my diet. Thank you.
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Thank you. I am on a low carb diet now.
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1 Reactionuh... I don't know but your numbers look FANTASTIC!!! @writer413 !!! And to @mikebiker what are you smoking with those over the moon numbers!!!! Wow. You guys are killing it. But I want to inform you that although those numbers are incredible the cholesterol is not always the biggest concern. My dad brought his numbers down after his first triple bypass and widow maker heart attack @ 58. But his body continued to lay plaque in his arteries for the rest of his life. He had a quadruple at 72, another triple bypass at 80, and many stents in between. He was on statins. If you have heart disease in your family take an "LPa" (pronounced L, P, little a). I was told about it and I tested and unfortunately, I got it - I inherited familial coronary artery disease. So now I have to pay attention to a whole lotta other stuff in addition. The class is called "lipoproteins." and there are a lot of tests starting with "Apoe" Apob" and Apoe a among other things. You have to look besides HDL and LDL at VLDL! There are new classes of medicines that keep the plaque from settling in your arteries. The Vesepa (Iomega is supposed to really help - so I'm going back on it - I stopped because it did nothing to drop my cholesterol - but IT DOES lower your triglycerides so I will restart it). Yes, to Mike - because I had digestion issues I switched to "refined" carbs because they didn't cause stomach aches but it definitely raised my triglycerides to 150 - 160 when it should be down to 90-100) like it was when I didn't eat refined carbs. Great book a great doctor recommended which has a lot of this in there - its GREAT (I can tell @kisu must have read it!!!) : https://www.amazon.com/Outlive-Science-Longevity-Peter-Attia/dp/B0DY69636S/ref=asc_df_B0DY69636S?mcid=a5876063d4093757b0e9163ce38f62c3&hvocijid=6786392314477066936-B0DY69636S-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6786392314477066936&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1014374&hvtargid=pla-2281435178538&psc=1
Yes, @jeannef2025 the APOE are the ones that test for Alzheimer. But there IS a relationship between glucose and cholesterol and the propensity to deposit unwanted things in both the brain and the arteries. Especially as we age and carry the genetic disposition.
It IS confusing and it takes a GOOD contemporary doctor to do the right thing by us. Otherwise they kick up to the curb saying your numbers look good when it is not an accurate picture of what is going on in our bodies. My new mission is to lower the triglycerides which have gone up while all my other numbers are doing a good job of falling. Exercise and eating properly seem to be big players - and ongoing learning and demanding better of doctors who are not up on the lastest info.
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3 ReactionsThank you for the info! I am actually getting a new cardiologist (broke the old one, just kidding, she retired) and I am keeping this to mention to my new doc.
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1 ReactionDo you mean APOE2 and APOE3? One copy of the APOE gene consists of two alleles one from your mom and one from your dad. There are any number of combinations. 2/3, 3/3, 3/4, 4/4, etc. 2 is preventive, 3 is neutral and 4 is an increased risk of Alzheimer's. You got tested with 23andMe and don't have APOE4 is that correct? Then your combination would be with the alleles 2 and 3 which are positive or neutral....2/3, 3/2, 3/3, etc.
Yes! It auto corrected on me. Good catch.
I don't have any studies on hand. Most of the medical studies have been on men and women being unrepresented. Try Gemini or Copilot.
The information I got was from this video. It picks up halfway through but I thought the whole video was interesting and helpful for anyone.
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1 ReactionI was given a “consultant” cardio specialist at ucsd I found out a few months ago. A battery of great tests were run in the fall. Good on them! However as explained in the book I mentioned (outlive) ucsd practicing drs are working on Medicine 2.0 which is identifying but not exploring Medicine 3.0 which is dependent on exploring ALL the underlying components and the puzzle pieces all fit together on an ongoing and evolving basis - reoccurring tests and analyzing how I change as I age. They diagnosed me as in the 66 percentile of of age and they were done! So I asked for a regular cardiologist that I will see on an annual basis. I am pretty pissed off how they drop the ball. Everyone is so specialized these days that expecting overlap seems to be unreasonable. Good luck. I always seem to break the system as well!
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2 ReactionsCorrect. They only test for APOE4.
@writer413, your joke about breaking your old cardiologist made me smile😊.