and I've always had high-ish cholesterol. I eat a lot of vegetables and am on the skinny side, so doctors have always told me it's genetic and my ratio is good so don't worry. When I learned about apoe4, I assumed I had at least one copy of this gene, because of my cholesterol levels and because my mom and two of her sisters (3 of 4 daughters) had some form of alz/dementia by their 80s. My paternal grandfather did too. My father died in his late 70s of cancer and then leukemia, so I don't know if he would have gone that route by his 80s too.
I did 23andme in early 2020 and learned I was 3/3. This was good news, but balanced the mystery of the high cholesterol and by hearing Dr. Isaacson say in a podcast interview with Peter Attia that he doesn't know how to help 3/3s with extensive family history, whereas 3/4s and 4/4s, he can help. My mom was still alive when I got my genetic test results, but she wouldn't have been able to consent to her own genetic testing. She died of covid about 6 weeks later, so I'll never know if she was 3/4.
I've continued to hang out here to learn more. I eat the salmon roe, use high polyphenol evoo, exercise, fast from about 7pm to 11am, and am trying the 40 hz light and sound therapy. I have anxiety around memory and whether I'm experiencing the beginning of the beginning of the decline, you know?
Finally, yesterday I got my butt to my primary care doctor for my first appointment in over two years. Bloodwork posted to the patient portal today.
Low hemoglobin, low WBC, low MCHC (an anemia parameter) and cholesterol is about 20 points worse than usual, with the increase being in LDL, not the HDL. My triglycerides continue to be low. At least there's that, since I drink no alcohol, eat only some sugar, and get tons of exercise. Oh, my fasting glucose is 92 and looking at past results, that's where it usually sits.
Cholesterol, Total: 271 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol: 75 mg/dL
Triglycerides: 50 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol Calc: 182 mg/dL (calc)
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio: 3.6 (calc)
Non-HDL: 196 mg/dL (calc)
I haven't changed my diet or activity in any big way since my last number with an LDL of 149 (vs 182 now).
So I'm thinking it's perimenopausal hormone shifts -- wild periods for first time in my life for the past 9 months, possibly causing the slight anemia too, which is not typical for me. Since that last bloodwork, I've also been on a sub-clinical (but not ready to eliminate) dose of escitalopram/lexapro and SSRIs have been shown to increase cholesterol. And since covid, I'm better about taking Vitamin D supplements, which can be an LDL cholesterol increaser.
Any thoughts?
I assume I should ask my doctor for an advanced lipid panel (LDL-p or apolipoprotein b)?
Any other tests, recommendations?
Thank you for reading all this.
