My ongoing campaign to rein in my lipids started soon after I turned fifty when the results from a routine lipid panel and fasting glucose blood test indicated numbers on the wrong side of the borderline. My primary care physician ('PCP') raised the flag, prescribed statins and admonished me to bring about changes to my life-style.
(click on the image to enlarge).
Between Nov 2007 and August 2013, take a look at the fasting glucose chart:
and the HbA1C chart:
In particular, notice the starting values on the left of the chart - clearly not ideal and heading the wrong way.
Between Nov 2007 and August 2013, take a look at the fasting glucose chart:
To top it off, I was also showing signs of pre-hypertension with my pressure hovering around 140/90 and rising. So, I was dealing with a three pronged situation - pre-diabetes, pre-hypertension and a brewing cholesterol problem; together a potent recipe for heart disease.
I asked my Primary Care Physician (PCP) to allow me 6 months to bring about changes and he agreed to retract the statin prescription and ordered me a fresh lipid panel test 6 months out.
In the next several postings, I will take you along my journey. Identifying all the resources I used along the way, how I used them, and the results I continue to see - without the use of statins. What you'll see is just one example of what is possible. I must state that this is not a prescription but just one person's result - your own result WILL vary. I have kept my PCP in the loop at every stage and if you do decide to embark on your own statin free journey, keep your PCP informed of your proposed regimen - and ideally get his support.
NEXT: List of resources used so far - drugs, dietary supplements, books, web resources, etc.
Please share your thoughts in comments below! Like the blog post, share it with others who may benefit. The link to the complete 5 blog series is http://bit.ly/bundles/eyeks/2 - feel free to share!
Header photo: Sunset in Monterey near Lone Cypress
3 comments:
Dear Indra, I too believed I could control my Cholesterol & morning blood glucose through diet & exercise for 5 years...& then reality hit....in 2005 with my 28 dauy stay in the ICU. The problem is it is not that you are trying to ward off heart disease, you already have it. 18% of Asian Indians have it based on family history & western lifestyle & our sedantory lifestyle of the last 25 years. My suggestion is add the statin, see a cardiologist now & get a thorough check up on your artery blockage. You must know that. Stress tests are not good enough. Prevention of heart attacks are not by cholesterol control only...you must take aspirin & plavix to prevent clots. The morning blood sugar is only an indicator...get the A1C number. Our PCPs are often too passive...Your blood pressure can be controlled through meditation.
Your friend.....AG
Indra - Delighted you're doing this. For those of us still on the other side of the divide, this first hand story and details are really helpful to chart our own stories. Thanks!
For Arup - given your personal experience, would like to hear what a "thorough" checkup might look like for someone with your experience (what you believe your doctors missed and how you might have found it).
Also intriguing to hear that you believe that one physiological process (BP) can be controlled through non-drug means but another (Heart Disease) cannot. Be interested to hear your opinion of Dr. Ornish's studies on reversal of heart disease with a holistic approach (not just exercise or diet).
RD (sorry didnt get your name), my research tells me that heart disease starts at conception. It gets accelerated by the lifestyle we live and the predisposition we have to our genes. At any point in time the aggresiveness of the therapy leads to reversal (for how long?) but you can still get a heart attack. The treatment is 1000 times tougher after you have one...so the therapy must be prevention. A heart attack almost never happens because the artery is 100% blocked. It happens because good blood flow is blocked by a clot. Every case is different, but what I have learnt is how to avoid one because the probability of having a second heart attack is very high, once youve had one...
More later....
AG
Post a Comment