High plaque, low cholesterol

[Jennyloua]

Hi, I'm 48, my last plac test was 1100, up from 800 2 years previously. My Cholesterol is only 4.9. I'm on 40mg atorvastatin because my UK doctor actually listened - but I don't know what else to do. is there anything you can do?? I'm not overweight, I eat a mostly vegetarian diet and don't smoke.

[Denistennis]

Hi 👋Jenny, for you to post this your situation must be of real concern to you. I'm no cardiologist but I am aware that individuals who have normal cholesterol levels can still be subject to plaque build-up in their arteries. Obviously I have no idea as the personal risk factors hereditary or otherwise that drove you to take a Plac test.I did not receive my diagnosis of a severe stenosis of the LAD ( The widow maker) until I was 71 though I did have a cholesterol test at 60 and was advised to start statin therapy as my overall cholesterol was in excess of 6+. However, I didn't as I had no wish to start taking medication for the rest of my life.

Sorry, I've wondered if piste there. Your question was " is there anything you can do about it? "

Stay as active as your personal circumstances dictate from everything I've read since my Bypass surgery exercise is the ONE thing that every medical professional agrees upon that will reduce your risk of a cardiac event.

On the positive side you appear to be doing everything right you don't smoke, you're not overweight and one thing I have gleaned from this forum is that our arteries are over engineered and a lot of people live long and happy lives totally unaware that they have a serious Plac build up in their arteries.

Hope you receive better advice than my feeble effort. Best wishes for your future hearth health.

Best regards Denis.

[Jennyloua in reply to Denistennis]

Thank you Denis, that's really encouraging!

[MoretonCross in reply to Denistennis]

Hello Denis, Just a thought, but have you ever considered trying "Plant Sterols 800mg" to bring your Cholesterol numbers down? You could check out the feedback for the sterols by "zipvit" on Amazon. People seem to be well pleased with the results. I'm with you regarding statins. Also, I think build up of calcium is maybe a major factor in plaque problems. Just an opinion... Regards, etc.

[Denistennis in reply to MoretonCross]

Hi Moreton 👋, I'm probably in the minority here, but I'm not so fussed about my cholesterol levels. When I turned 60, I was invited in for a wellman check. All the usual stuff blood pressure-exercise review and cholesterol levels test. A couple of weeks later, I had a telephone call re. Cholesterol levels. From what I can recall they were over 6 and they wanted to start me off on a daily statin. At that point I really tried to find all the information I could glean with regard to Lipid theory. Where did it all begin? Who were the individuals who drove the original research? 🤔 etc. Before starting a drug that I would have to take for the rest of my life.

What I did discover is that it would appear that all the benefits touted for statin therapy- lowering cholesterol - stabilising plac, etc. would not guarantee you wouldn't have heart disease at a future date.

Some would argue that at the moment, though no cure statin therapy is the best we've got to slow down plac build up, but I can't see the point in lowering my cholesterol levels to that currently recommended by NICE for someone in my situation with CHD if the statistical evidence would suggest it ain't going to make me live any longer.

Thank you so much for your response to my post for we sufferers of heart disease it's good to communicate with others who have walked in the same per of shoes 👞.

Best regards, Denis

[Blearyeyed]

Was your LDL cholesterol 4.9 or your total Cholesterol?

If you LDL or " bad" cholesterol is between 4.1-4.9 that is considered high and a risk factor , especially for those whom already have arterial plaque.

It may be an idea to ask your GP about taking Ezetimibe as well to help lower your cholesterol more if your LDL is high.

Otherwise , try keeping a food diary and see if you are having any hidden cholesterol and saturates.

We often assume that because a vegetarian diet contains no meat , or even a vegan diet contains no animal fats that it must be naturally low in saturate and bad cholesterol but if your diet contains a lot of certain types of nuts , coconut or palm products ( which are common in vegan dairy cheeses and processed foods) these can increase you cholesterol. You could add plant sterols to your diet and also check if you are getting enough B12 , Folates and Hydration in your diet because these are often low in vegetarian diets and they affect heart health as well as having an impact on our energy and how well we remove cholesterol.

Salty foods can affect your calcium balance and that can have an affect on plaques.

Alcohol is also a factor so you might want to reduce that ot give it up.

Exercise daily , even if it's just gentle walks and stretches is key to keeping cholesterol levels under control so changing your exercise routine may help.

There was a long term study done on employees of Santander in Madrid Spain. They all started being assessed between their 40's and 50's and began with good health and blood pressure and were none smokers but 50% of them still had an increase in arterial plaque despite having normal total cholesterol levels , the ones with the increase appeared to have higher LDL , however, and /or high triglycerides.

You are doing a lot already so having this happen seems very unfair but hopefully you can find that extra piece to the puzzle soon , take care , Bee

[Jennyloua]

That was the total - although the most recent one was 5.2. Doesn't really fit with my plaque test results!

[Lowerfield_no_more]

Your total lipids count is on or just above the recommended maximum according to current UK guidelines, and it is also likely that your non HDL lipids are also elevated, so I would be considering discussing this with my GP to see whether an increase in Atorvastatin dose to 80mg would be in order, assuming you are statin tolerant. If you have had a heart attack your cardiologist would be recommending that, as mine did a after my NSTEMI, when my total lipids were similar to yours. That aside statins apparently stabilise existing plaque so in my layman's opinion you are doing all you can do, but whether the stabilising effect is increased with statin dose I have no idea.

[Jack2019]

This might help.

consultqd.clevelandclinic.o...

[Jennyloua]

Update * 40mg of statins for 3 months has reduced my Plac test reading from high risk 1100 to normal range - 125! I'm so relieved!