Fish, sorry I missed your first post. Which number came back high? I had my first blood workup 2 years back, when I used to workout like a maniac 6-7 days a week, and to my and my doctor's amazement, my total and LDL number came back high (228 and 171 respectively). HDL and triglycerides were fine. So I cut back on saturated fats and one year later, a slight decrease (about 10%) but still high. So I ask for, and get, a Lipoprotein-a and c-reactive protein test. LPa comes back high, but CRP comes back good - as it should with the amount of exercise I get. So doctor recommends putting me on prescription levels of niacin. Problem is that levels that high waste away muscle. So after consulting with a number of doc friends and my dad's friend who is one of the top cardiac professors in the world, I hold off. In the period between the two tests, I was taking flax seed regularly.
Genetics may have the trump card in my case. My mom has naturally high levels of cholesterol (over 330 total) but has high levels of HDL as well and her ratio is good. Still, at age 58, she had a partial blockage that they had to stent. She never took any meds and is still good today, 7 years later. My friends said that because she had the blockage at the age she did and that age was post-menopausal, it is not a heredity risk factor for me.
Anyway, now to my point (you didn't want to hear my history): I was ready to take fish oil caps, but read a number of articles that showed conflicting research on what it did to LDL. Some research found that it actually raised LDL. Since that is my number of concern and the one that is putting me out of whack, I never took it.
Any info on that?
PS: Sadly, as I got fat and out of shape over the winter, I delayed my annual exam. It was supposed to take place in Jan and I said I'd go in July. Talk about a typical male response to a problem.
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