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Hereditary Cholesterol, Taking Fish Oil, No Improvement. Suggested Diet, Therapy And Cholesterol Check Machine?
Question: my husband is only 35 and he weigh 185 and is 5 foot 8.he has heridty cholesterol..i want to keep him off of statins..they have bad side effects..so i give him fish oil and so forth to help keep it lower..but he went for test and it was 249..so what i need to know is what else other then diet and exsecise can we do..i think i need to get a better fish oil first of all and maybe make him more fish to eat,and i heard garlic is good..but also i want to buy a cholesterol machine to keep a check on it here at the house what is the best one to buy?cardiocheck maybe?thank you
Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
Statin therapy is studied to be cardioprotective drug and one of the essentials to prevent premature heart disease in an individual who has high cholesterol and strong family history of high cholesterol.
The total cholesterol at 249 is high. Since your husband has a strong family history also. It is good to continue on cholesterol lowering medications. You can discuss these alternative drugs with the physician.
I am glad that you couple are aware of Lifestyle modifications and their equal importance with medicines. All of the fish oils and garlic are helpful but cannot replace the cholesterol lowering medications. On clinical trials these supplements could not withstand with time. They are certainly helpful to provide Omega fatty acids. Their importance is still restricted as supplements and not life saving. The use of drugs or supplements containing specified amounts of phytosterol esters or phytostanol esters as cholesterol lowering agents has been approved by FDA and you can try the natural statins. You can discuss these options with his physician.
You should follow some lifestyle modification measures like weight management and physical activity. In addition to the low fat low cholesterol diet, you should add more soluble fibre in your diet. Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, certain fruits (such as oranges and pears) and vegetables (such as brussels sprouts and carrots), and dried peas and beans. Taking garlic on empty stomach also helps.
Cardiocheck analyzer is a good way of checking your cholesterol levels at home. You can go ahead with it. It is very important to check Serum Cholesterol with standard lab methods once in 6 months.
I hope this answers your query effectively. In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Thanks for posting your query.
Statin therapy is studied to be cardioprotective drug and one of the essentials to prevent premature heart disease in an individual who has high cholesterol and strong family history of high cholesterol.
The total cholesterol at 249 is high. Since your husband has a strong family history also. It is good to continue on cholesterol lowering medications. You can discuss these alternative drugs with the physician.
I am glad that you couple are aware of Lifestyle modifications and their equal importance with medicines. All of the fish oils and garlic are helpful but cannot replace the cholesterol lowering medications. On clinical trials these supplements could not withstand with time. They are certainly helpful to provide Omega fatty acids. Their importance is still restricted as supplements and not life saving. The use of drugs or supplements containing specified amounts of phytosterol esters or phytostanol esters as cholesterol lowering agents has been approved by FDA and you can try the natural statins. You can discuss these options with his physician.
You should follow some lifestyle modification measures like weight management and physical activity. In addition to the low fat low cholesterol diet, you should add more soluble fibre in your diet. Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, certain fruits (such as oranges and pears) and vegetables (such as brussels sprouts and carrots), and dried peas and beans. Taking garlic on empty stomach also helps.
Cardiocheck analyzer is a good way of checking your cholesterol levels at home. You can go ahead with it. It is very important to check Serum Cholesterol with standard lab methods once in 6 months.
I hope this answers your query effectively. In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
he is not on any statins right now..i have read many bad things about these statins..what do you think about all natural statins that say they have plant sterol to lower it?and is there a presription statin that will not casue liver damage
Hello.
Thanks for writing again.
Every drug has some side effects. It does not mean that the severity of side effects will be same in all the individuals. If you are so much concerned about hepatotoxicity of statins then you can ask your physician to prescribe safer statins like Simvastatin. Any physician shall check the Liver Function before prescribing statins. They shall also counsel the person with known side effects.
Always remember to check liver function tests once every 6 months while on statin therapy. If you have muscle pains or brown urine after starting the statin therapy you should see the doctor and change the medicine appropriately.
Other cholesterol-lowering medicines with lesser side effects include:
* Bile acid-sequestering resins
* Ezetimibe
* Fibrates (such as gemfibrozil)
* Nicotinic acid
You can discuss about these options with your physician. Believe me there is no medicine that can equally replace 'Statin therapy' with similar beneficial results.
Hope my answer is helpful.
Regards.
Thanks for writing again.
Every drug has some side effects. It does not mean that the severity of side effects will be same in all the individuals. If you are so much concerned about hepatotoxicity of statins then you can ask your physician to prescribe safer statins like Simvastatin. Any physician shall check the Liver Function before prescribing statins. They shall also counsel the person with known side effects.
Always remember to check liver function tests once every 6 months while on statin therapy. If you have muscle pains or brown urine after starting the statin therapy you should see the doctor and change the medicine appropriately.
Other cholesterol-lowering medicines with lesser side effects include:
* Bile acid-sequestering resins
* Ezetimibe
* Fibrates (such as gemfibrozil)
* Nicotinic acid
You can discuss about these options with your physician. Believe me there is no medicine that can equally replace 'Statin therapy' with similar beneficial results.
Hope my answer is helpful.
Regards.
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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