Alysson's lipids

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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by rep »

GeorgeN - I hope you won't mind explaining your most recent post in this thread with me while we are in Berkeley. I am not as intellectual nor as experienced as you when it comes to this. I have not seen doctors as informed as yours. But, as you know my LDL-P is around 2000 and I did have a doubling of my CT calcium score in one year. That said, I was eating a fair amount of sugar during that and previous years (fasting blood glucose about 102 when tested at lab and often higher by meter at home) and I have seriously brought that under control. No more sugar for me except very rare real maple syrup.

I do see Dr. Ronald Krauss in mid-June.

Since I've been in pain and am still trying to get it under control (time consuming) so I can go to Berkeley I have not had time to review the links about the EBT calcium scanning. I will have questions about it for you. I will bring my lab results.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by TheBrain »

Kitano and apod, thanks for your input. I will go ahead and order the advanced lipid testing.

An interesting discussion followed! I can see I have much to learn.

Rep, I'm sorry you're in pain. I hope you will be feeling much better soon, certainly in time for the SF gathering.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by Tincup »

rep wrote:GeorgeN - I hope you won't mind explaining your most recent post in this thread with me while we are in Berkeley. I am not as intellectual nor as experienced as you when it comes to this. I have not seen doctors as informed as yours. But, as you know my LDL-P is around 2000 and I did have a doubling of my CT calcium score in one year. That said, I was eating a fair amount of sugar during that and previous years (fasting blood glucose about 102 when tested at lab and often higher by meter at home) and I have seriously brought that under control. No more sugar for me except very rare real maple syrup.

I do see Dr. Ronald Krauss in mid-June.

Since I've been in pain and am still trying to get it under control (time consuming) so I can go to Berkeley I have not had time to review the links about the EBT calcium scanning. I will have questions about it for you. I will bring my lab results.


rep,
Sure, happy to give my (non-medical) opinion. What are your calcium scores? As to sugar. a very strong case can be made that insulin resistance (IR) is a huge factor. This (long) video goes into a lot of the data https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuj6nxC ... e=youtu.be. In our E4 case, the question is not whether eliminating IR is necessary. It is. It is whether it is enough. It is why I'm following Dr. Gundry's admonition to minimize animal fats with the exception of omega 3 or pastured eggs and shell or white fish. I've also added 1 g/day of niacin as Slo Niacin with Gundry's 60 mg/day or pycnogenol & 200 mg/day of grape seed extract. I also add a bit of fish oil.

Glad you are seeing Dr. Krauss.

If you want to PM me about your pain, I also happen to do myofacial trigger point release (as a non-professional). I've had a fair amount success helping others with fairly stubborn pain.
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Re: RE: Alysson's lipids

Post by Stavia »

alysson wrote:Hi folks,

I just had my lipids tested for the first time in almost four years. It was just the basic testing. One question I have is whether you'd suggest I do the advanced lipids testing (the NMR Profile).

Here goes:

Total cholesterol: 203 mg/dL (range: 0-200)
LDL: 107 mg/dL (range 0-99)
HDL: 86 mg/dL (range: >39)
VLDL: 10 mg/dL (range 0-40)
Triglyceride: 51 mg/dL (range: <150)
Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio: 2.4

The last time I was tested, my total cholesterol was 154, with an LDL of 83 and an HDL of 60. I've never had an HDL close to 86 before. Is that a good thing? Might it offset my above-range LDL? Or do I need to get the NMR Profile done to find out?

Honestly, I haven't been paying too much attention to topics about lipids. So really, I'm a newbie and would appreciate your thoughts to help get me started with exploring this arena.

Thanks for your input!
Alysson
Alysson honey, you should IMO know your LDL particle number. This can be done either by an NMR or apolipoprotein b. Its not too expensive.
Once you have the numbers the group can help you grapple with the interpretation.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by TheBrain »

Stavia, I didn't realize I could do either an NMR or apolipoprotein b test. For the latter, would the following test work?
http://www.lef.org/vitamins-supplements ... Blood-Test

It's cheaper ($41.25) than the Life Extension's NMR Lipoprofile test ($98):
http://www.lef.org/vitamins-supplements ... Blood-Test

I did some poking around online and came across a post by Mark Sisson (primal eating/living expert). It's titled "How to Interpret Advanced Cholesterol Test Results." Based on the timestamp of the comments, it looks like the post was written in 2011.

Here are two quotes from Sisson:
Recent evidence shows and commentary from researchers concludes that the various advanced lipoprotein particle classification tests can produce wildly disparate results on the same samples to the point of rendering them unreliable.
I think determining LDL particle size will be helpful in assessing a person’s risk for heart disease. I just don’t think we can use the tests that are currently available to do it, not reliably at least.
However, he found in his research that ApoB testing is reliable and accurate.

Here's the link to this post, which explains Sisson's reasoning in some depth:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-i ... z3bC5qenAS

Also, a commenter posted that these numbers don't mean much for women who are still getting their periods (which is the case with me).

I'm wondering: Have these advanced lipid tests become more reliable over the past four years? Based on this post, I think I'd go for the ApoB testing, but the post is four years old and hopefully out of date.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by Ski »

I would caution taking anything scientific from MDA. The stuff that they push out is ridiculous and his merry band of followers are just as brain washed as the very folks they criticize. He knows, many people on the Paleo diet experience exaggerated lipid responses to that diet so he has a biased opinion, IMO. Stick to true medical researchers.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by Stavia »

Alysson that is the correct test you have linked. I see it is half the price of the NMR. It doesn't give as much information as the NMR but its a good start. If you plan to test repeatedly it will add up to a significant savings.
As far as I know the NMR is sufficiently reliable for our use. It does give more information though for not a huge extra cost.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by TheBrain »

Ski and Stavia, thanks for our input.

One thing I find confusing is that based on the NMR lipoprofile test's description on lef.org, it doesn't sound like much is tested for. But then I see Karelena's post, and it looks like a lot of data is generated.

Here's what lef.org says is tested for:
This panel contains the following tests:
  • o The number of LDL particles (LDL-P)
    o A standard cholesterol test (LDL-C, HDL-C, Triglycerides and Total Cholesterol).
    o The NMR LipoProfile® also provides a calculation of one’s risk of type 2 diabetes by assessing abnormalities in lipoprotein markers that are closely associated with insulin resistance (a precursor to type 2 diabetes).
I already have my standard cholesterol results, and I do want to know my LDL-P. Maybe the additional data comes from the third bullet?

Before I order this test for myself and my husband, I want to know what I'm getting (even if I don't yet understand it).

Thanks for your patience and help.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by Stavia »

Alysson it looks truncated. Call them and ask for a fake result to be emailed to you and show us. Or at least ask them for a list of every single parameter. Your description isnt enough.
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Re: Alysson's lipids

Post by TheBrain »

I just got a PDF that describes what the NMR LipoProfile offers from Life Extension through Labcorp. I got it from a health advisor at Life Extension, but the PDF is from Labcorp.

Unless I'm really misunderstanding, this test appears to offer less data than whatever source Karelena used for her results.

Attached is the PDF. See page 2 for the sample results.
NMR LipoProfile info from Life Extension.pdf
Where have others gotten their NMR LipoProfile done?
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