Re: got my hospital records

Jim Chinnis wrote:

I had a heart valve (mitral) repaired in 1988, out of the blue. Just sorta
fell over on the beach while riding my bicycle and ended up on the operating
table a few days later at age 44. The surgeon who did my surgery did one
just like it a few days later, and the surgery was filmed. My cardiologist
sent me a copy. This was truly hard to watch! I remember seeing the s t o p
p e d heart in the surgeons hands. Something you didn't get to see that I
did was the surgeon cutting the heart open to get to the valve leaflets.

OK, that would completly wig me out. I do not ever wanna see a bypass.


(The type of surgery you had is often called "open heart" but it isn't.)

Yeah, that's what I said to a nurse friend. I thought she was misspeaking when she referred to it as open heart surgery, but she says that's what they call it.

I saw open heart surgery on TV once years ago and I knew that wasn't what they did on me.


<snip>
Then on 6/2, after my bg was relatively controlled for all of 2 days, I
had total cholesterol: 107, triglycerides: 121, HDL: 24 and LDL
(calculated): 58.8, risk factor: "average".

The HDL is a bit scarey. The rest is a huge improvement.

Yeah, I don't like my HDL.

But it's all old news, I'll see what my lipids look like in November. I've made LOTS of positive changes so I am giving myself a vacation from worrying about lipids until then.


Zetia is a cholesterol-lowering med, as that's the only effect it has been
shown to have. Statins (some at least) are heart attack and stroke
preventing meds, independent of lipids.

It appears there's a big anti-inflammatory effect with statins, but I'm not sure I can't get that in other ways without the risks of statin side effects.


I would reach a different conclusion. Zetia would be a non-starter, since
your cholesterol is already low. Whether a statin is needed to reduce the
probability of another heart attack or a stroke is hard to say. If your bg
is tightly controlled and your lipids are good (including your hdl), and you
have no other known risk factors (elevated fibrinogen, Lp(a), etc., then I'd
say to skip the statin and blame the heart attack mostly on the bg.
Otherwise, I'd take a statin. ($4/month.)

They don't do all these other tests... just a lame lipid panel with a calculated LDL. But I do plan to nag for better tests when I see the cardio again.

The $4/month doesn't bother me; the messing around with my steroid synthesis pathways does.


I am even more convinced now than ever that it was the elevated bg that
caused the heart attack, my own stupidity in being afraid of insulin.
Take home lesson: Don't be afraid of insulin, rather be afraid of not
doing whatever you need to do to treat high bg.

And if a doctor ever even THINKS the word "statin" in my presence again,
he shall have little cause to describe me as "pleasant."

You were afraid to take insulin and got an MI. Now you are afraid of a
statin. You may be right this time, but you should be sure your risks are
really low. The HDL is scarey, and I don't know how much you have been
tested for other risk factors like fibrinogen, Lp(a), etc.

Hey, don't use my words against me like that! I *have* a daughter, you know. ;)

Seriously, my fear of insulin was irrational. I just felt... my dad went on insulin and then he died. It wasn't exactly a logical thinking pattern. Heck, it wasn't even fully conscious thinking... just random fear at the diea of insulin.

My concern about statins have to do with not liking their mode-of-action. I'm diabetic, my endocrine system is partially broken for certain. Messing with cholesterol synthesis just seems like a bad idea.

I'm open to being wrong about this, but not just yet cause I'm not gonna think about it until after my next set of lab work.

I'm busy being happy about my health right now. It's probably reducing my cortisol levels as we speak. ;)

--
http://www.ornery-geeks.org/consulting/
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: got my hospital records
    ... I'll see what my lipids look like in November. ... Whether a statin is needed to reduce the ... probability of another heart attack or a stroke is hard to say. ... You may be right this time, but you should be sure your risks are ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: got my hospital records
    ... on insulin for a year, ... as much as I possibly could about dosing for tight control. ... is an AVERAGE risk for heart attack based on my lipids. ... And if a doctor ever even THINKS the word "statin" in my presence again, ...
    (alt.support.diabetes)
  • Re: Statins and side effects......
    ... inability of a patient to tolerate a statin does NOT automatically mean that patient will suffer a heart attack. ... the public is encouraged to think that heart attack is now simply an automatic and certain "punishment" for anyone not taking statins - whether they suffer disabling adverse effects or not. ... We have to use medical professionals as consultants. ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Statins and side effects......
    ... the disabling and debilitating serious adverse ... inability of a patient to tolerate a statin does NOT ... It is not binary - statin or heart attack. ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Statin drugs lower heart attack death-study
    ... fatal heart attack in the first five years of treatment do not live ... > "Patients who had not been prescribed statins in the past but were ... > STATIN DRUGS AND THEIR NATURAL ALTERNATIVES and this 80 page document put ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)