Again Paddy, fantastic quick read, layman’s terminology, great advice and understanding provided. I have taken a lot (positive) from this article in how I manage my life and medication a year and a half on from my stenting. Never felt fitter and healthier as that blood supply to the heart muscle was obviously volume depleted before but now gives me much more VO2 max. Thanks Paddy.
There is the LDL theory of heart disease. There is another theory which notes an absence of LDL in plaque and suggests that only oxidized LDL may matter for heart disease. There are also important negative side effects connected with statin drugs. I knew one of the developers of statin drugs-- he was very disappointed in how they actually turned out. I think it is important to note that much remains unsettled here.
Great work, thank u for sharing your knowledge. I am a 53 male relatively active, train a few times a week+walking, but taking medications for blood pressure which is controlled. LDL 130 and my doctor recommends statins but i will get a second opinion. Your take on this?
I cannot give individual medical advice here but I have written on this topic extensively in the past. In my view it all comes down to your lifetime risk, the potential benefits that are on offer and your approach to managing risk.
It is the number of LDL particles that serve as the best metric of risk. LDL-c is a reasonable and accessible metric of that for most. NON-HDL C is better and ApoB is best but most people and doctors are most familiar with LDL-C. When you control for particle count the effect of small particles disappears. They are a proxy measure of insulin resistance which is also a very important metric of risk. But they are two different things.
Again Paddy, fantastic quick read, layman’s terminology, great advice and understanding provided. I have taken a lot (positive) from this article in how I manage my life and medication a year and a half on from my stenting. Never felt fitter and healthier as that blood supply to the heart muscle was obviously volume depleted before but now gives me much more VO2 max. Thanks Paddy.
There is the LDL theory of heart disease. There is another theory which notes an absence of LDL in plaque and suggests that only oxidized LDL may matter for heart disease. There are also important negative side effects connected with statin drugs. I knew one of the developers of statin drugs-- he was very disappointed in how they actually turned out. I think it is important to note that much remains unsettled here.
Great work, thank u for sharing your knowledge. I am a 53 male relatively active, train a few times a week+walking, but taking medications for blood pressure which is controlled. LDL 130 and my doctor recommends statins but i will get a second opinion. Your take on this?
I cannot give individual medical advice here but I have written on this topic extensively in the past. In my view it all comes down to your lifetime risk, the potential benefits that are on offer and your approach to managing risk.
Is the level of LDL C by itself the risk factor, or is it rather the amount of small LDL C particles that are more prone to forming plaque?
It is the number of LDL particles that serve as the best metric of risk. LDL-c is a reasonable and accessible metric of that for most. NON-HDL C is better and ApoB is best but most people and doctors are most familiar with LDL-C. When you control for particle count the effect of small particles disappears. They are a proxy measure of insulin resistance which is also a very important metric of risk. But they are two different things.