High Cholesterol is a Precursor to Cardiac Artery Disease
By Jim Rue
Every seven seconds a baby boomer turns fifty. I was part of the advance guard. Boomers will continue turning 50 for another ten years. Knee deep in egalitarian ideals, a pervasive sense of entitlement and the lifelong wish to 'have it all,' we are nonetheless discovering that 'having it all,' as we get older also means having problems with our weight, dangerously high cholesterol levels and coronary artery disease (CAD).
The Options
Such issues, unattended to, lead to angioplasty, coronary bypass surgery or even a heart attack. Angioplasty involves the insertion of a small balloon into a clogged coronary artery. Blowing the balloon up causes the gummy LDL cholesterol to be compressed against the arterial wall, thereby clearing the pipes. A stent can also be wrapped around the balloon. This tin wire mesh device expands with the balloon and stays in place after the balloon is removed, holding the artery open. More than half a million coronary bypass procedures are performed in the US each year on those for whom angioplasty is not an option.
The chances of surviving surgery are quite good, but coronary bypass surgery is gritty indeed. Not even the sunniest, most optimistic cardiologist will deny the gravity, pain and discomfort of the bypass procedure. Also, many alternative healers, and some doctors too, suggest that bypass surgery is overprescribed.
Once an artery is blocked, you've got the disease. Medical doctors seem sure in their belief that CAD doesn't go away without angioplasty or bypass surgery, and the arguments of dissenters often read like wishful thinking. But for those not yet experiencing the symptoms of shortness of breath and chest pain that characterize angina, the message is clear. The time to do something about CAD is before you have it.
A Cholesterol Test is Simple and Fast
Local pharmacies offer public blood testing days frequently. Your HMO will be glad to test you. A test result reflecting high cholesterol can be easy to ignore, especially when you feel fine. But if your LDL cholesterol count (the 'bad' cholesterol) is greater than 130, it would be wise to regard this as a clear danger signal that CAD may be the eventual result if something isn't done to lower that number.
Amend that: If you don't do something to lower that number. If your HDL count is less than 40, it would be good to regard the knowledge as a warning to alter your lifestyle. If your combined total cholesterol is over 200, you are at risk. If it is over 240, the risk is severe. No literature from a doctors' office or from a website can leave a lasting impression like a prescription for you to have heart surgery, but by then the odds are that surgery will be necessary.
Sources of Cholesterol
Changing the behavior that leads to a mounting cholesterol count can seem like torture. Giving up the blessed morning experience of coffee with a second (or third) piece of toast with butter and preserves, the monster steak burrito, the double cheeseburger and fries, or the three-egg omelette with sour cream and bacon may seem terribly unfair. But that's what it takes.
Daily aerobic exercise is important, as is achieving or maintaining a modest body weight. But the virtual elimination of LDL-rich foods such as spare ribs, shrimp (all shellfish, in fact) and eggs is absolutely essential. Don't wait until symptoms appear to realize what you should have done before. It's easy to think about eating fish each day or every other day. It's quite another to make fish a part of your regular diet.
Drugs
Overcoming the confusion of understanding the different types of cholesterol and which foods put you at risk may seem annoying to you while you are basking in the sunshine of excellent health. Taking a daily dose of a 'statin' drug or niacin may seem a small price to pay to resolve a high cholesterol count. But the fact is that these small measures may not work. New wonder drugs like torcetrapib, APO-A1 Milano or the synthetic amino acid EDTA won't do the trick either unless you change your habits. Bad test results are your chance to make big changes and start again. Look at it as the price of continued life.
Take every reasonable opportunity after age 50 or so to learn your current cholesterol count, and take care to understand what it means, too. Or face the prospect of pending heart surgery with its attendant risks, pain and just plain old downtime. It's the fools' choice offered by Denzel Washington in the movie Training Day: "Do you want to go to jail (surgery) or do you want to go home?"
