TamPogo Blog

Day 22

Day 22: What to do?

Risk factors in heart disease are NOT something that should be dismissed as unimportant. Nor should the negative consequences associated with them be considered something that only visits your neighbor and not yourself. Every single risk factor is important and having a group of them is critically important.

The good news is that most of the risk factors for most of the people can be turned around with simple modified behaviors. Now, we didn’t say easy; we said simple. Losing weight is simple; not easy. Eating more cold water fish is simple; not easy.

Ok, let’s say that you know you have too many risk factors and you want to live a very long time. You need to take a simple, general approach immediately and then you need to take a specific approach as you get control of the general changes. What does that mean?

Here is what you need to do generally – no exceptions.

1. If you drink, stop. No more than 2 drinks a day on any day.

2. If you smoke, stop.

3. If you don’t exercise, start. Choose some activity, even a simple walk, and do it for at least 20 minutes more days per week than not.

4. Stop eating high glycemic foods, egg yokes, high fat dairy and processed foods containing sugars, high fructose corn syrup, cooking oils other than olive, saturated and trans fats.

5. Start eating more vegetables and fruits.

6. Cut back on meats and foods prepared with high heat and eat more fish and foods prepared with low heat or served uncooked, fresh.

7. Try to sleep at least 7 hours a night and take time out daily to practice relaxation skills.

8. Consider taking, as a minimum, the following supplements. D3, an Omega 3, a fiber, a non denatured protein and an excellent anti-oxidant such as resveratrol or cacao.

If are able to modify most of the above, at least a good amount of the time, you will begin returning yourself to better general health. You will lose weight, feel great and improve the functioning of important body systems such as the immune system.

That takes care of things generally. Moving on to specifics, it is important that you isolate the specific risk factors that you score high on and work on turning those around. For example, if you are overweight, have high LDL (low density lipo-protein) and elevated blood pressure, you need to research these specifically and make sure to modify the specific behaviors that can cause change. Begin with the information we gave you and drill down deeper from there. It’s not easy but it is simple. There is nothing here that is difficult to understand. It’s just a matter of knowing the changes that need to be made and then making them.

The bottom line is that MOST heart disease is completely preventable. Yes, there is a genetic component to heart disease but it is not even remotely as powerful as your lifestyle choices are. Heart protective behaviors are not easy but they are simple. Remember that and begin changing your negative behaviors, today, one small step at a time.

Tomorrow we will look at some of the common treatments for various aspects of heart disease and see if the research actually supports the practices. In some cases, you will be surprised.

Day 21

Day 21: Risk Factor Summary

Over the past twenty days we have been discussing some of the main risk factors for developing the number one killing disease for both sexes, heart disease. We believe that the information provided during these days can be invaluable for your health. Without education, positive change only occurs by accident.

This information will be more important for some than others. Today we want to isolate which group you are in. It’s fairly easy to do that with a combination of simple at home tests and an inexpensive blood test from your doctor that covers all the main markers for heart disease.

Part One: You will want to answer the following 10 questions.

1. Do you have a direct, male family member under 55, within 2 generations of you, or a direct, female family member under 65, within 2 generations of you, that has suffered from heart disease? Score one point for YES.

2. Are you a man who is over 45 or are a post menopausal woman? Score one point for YES.

3. Are you more than 10 pounds overweight? Score one point for YES.

4. Do you exercise more than 20 minutes a day, 4 days a week? Score one point for NO.

5. Do you floss daily and get your teeth cleaned professionally every six months? Score one point for NO.

6. Do you smoke? Score one point for YES

7. Do you have 2 or more drinks more than once a week? Score one point for YES.

8. Is your resting heart rate as measured by a blood pressure cuff, heart rate monitor or wrist pulse above 85? Score one point for YES.

9. Is your blood pressure 130/90 or above? Score one point for YES.

10. During the cold pressor test for stress reactive personalities did your blood pressure raise 15 points or more following immersion. Score one point for YES.

If you scored 3 or above then you need to understand that you are in the higher risk group for developing heart disease. You will definitely want to read the information we provide tomorrow which is intended to help you reverse the processes that have put you into risk and deliver you a happier, healthier future.

If you scored below three points, that is great – for now. The next trip to your physician for a physical you will want to ask him to take blood and run the following tests:

1. Fasting Glucose Level: Is it above 100? Score one point for YES.

2. Fasting Insulin Level: Is it above 5? Score one point for YES.

3. Hemoglobin A1c. Is it above 5.8? Score one point for YES.

4. Homocysteine Level: Is it above 9? Score one point for YES.

5. C-reactive protein (CRP) Level. Is your level above 1.5? Score one point for YES.

6. VAP Lipid Profile Test: Score one point for any measure of cholesterol that falls outside the normal range.

7. Triglyceride Level: Is your level above 100? Score one point for YES.

8. Blood Fatty Acid Test: Score one point for any fatty acid measure that falls outside the normal range.

9. Serum ferritin and iron binding capacity tests: Score one point for a higher than normal level on either of these tests.

10. Thyroid function tests free T3, free T4 and TSH. Score one point if any of these tests come back lower than normal.

Now add the total score from the first ten questions to the total score of your blood tests. If you have 3 or more points total, you are in the high risk group for heart disease and will want to pay careful attention to tomorrow’s information.

Final optional test. Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CAC): If your physician tells you that you are testing outside the normal limit here, you will want to add one point to your total score.

The higher your total, in general, the more at risk you are for heart disease. Tomorrow we will discuss what exactly this means and what you can do to improve your score immediately.

Day 20

Day 20: Additional Risk Factors.

There are two additional risk factors for heart disease that we wanted to discuss. They are not necessarily primary risk factors but you should be aware of them both.

First, is the iron in your blood. High iron in the blood oxidates LDL in the bloodstream and speeds the formation of the deadly foam cells we discussed on Day One. The higher the iron content of your blood, the higher the risk of heart disease.

Iron content is measured with two simple blood tests: serum ferritin and iron binding capacity.

It is our opinion that unless you are anemic you should never take a multivitamin with iron or a mineral product with iron. You should also never cook with iron cookware.

If you have higher than normal iron levels you can donate blood which lowers your total iron content or take supplements such as fiber, garlic, green tea and resveratrol, which have been shown to lower iron blood levels.

The second additional risk factor for heart disease is low thyroid function or hypothyroidism. Individuals with sluggish thyroids have an increased risk of heart disease through higher than normal cholesterol levels and homocysteine levels. In fact nearly everyone with low thyroid functions suffers from either high cholesterol or high homocysteine levels.

In order to check your thyroid function your doctor can measure free T3, free T4 and TSH. Low thyroid function should be treated immediately after diagnosis.

Tomorrow, we will summarize all these risk factors and give you a beginning game plan for a simple preventative program moving forward. Then we will look at the common drugs, therapies and procedures used to treat heart disease.

Day 19

Day 19: Coronary Artery Calcium Score (CAC):

Please recall the newer model of heart disease that postulates most heart attacks are caused by vulnerable or “soft” plaque. The bad news is that measuring soft plaque is nearly impossible given today’s technology but since there is a direct relationship between hard and soft plaque deposits, the very fast and non-invasive CAC test can give a person a reasonably accurate measure of this risk factor.

 

The CAC test can be performed on anyone, unless they have had a previous by-pass, angioplasty or stenting procedure.

Ideally, the CAC score should be 0, but this rarely occurs. Basically, the higher the number, the higher this becomes as a risk factor for heart disease. Your final score can be evaluated by comparing it to others using a percentile table that can be found on the Internet such as the following:

http://www.newportbodyscan.com/GuidetoCoronaryCalciumScoring.htm

We should point out that the specific role the CAC score plays in risk diagnosis is still being debated but most of the more current research Is demonstrating it has a high predictive value.

Some progressive physicians are also measuring intima-media thickness (IMT) on the carotid artery, at the same time they do the CAC test, although IMT is far more predictive of stroke than it is heart disease.

Tomorrow we will discuss a couple other simple blood values that you may want to measure if you are doing a general chemistry screen on the blood as they have been shown to be helpful in evaluating the risk of heart disease.

Day 18

Day 18: Fatty Acid Proportion.

Most everyone has heard of the importance to have a diet rich in essential fatty acids but few people really know what that means. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are fatty acids that humans and other animals must consume from foods because the body requires them but can't make them on its own.

To biochemists, there are only two EFAs:

1. alpha-linolenic acid, which is an omega-3 fatty acid, and

2. linoleic acid, which is an omega-6 fatty acid

Some scientists consider gamma-linolenic acid (an omega-6), lauric acid (saturated fatty acid), and palmitoleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid) as conditionally essential.

Then many writers and nutritionists further complicate matters by calling arachidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and oleic acid (an omega 9 from olive oil) essential fatty acids in their communications.

Let’s eliminate some of the labeling confusion and just refer to all of these as fatty acids.

Let’s go back to the starting sentence and change it a bit.

Most everyone has heard of the importance of having a diet rich in fatty acids but almost no one really knows what that means. Here is some basic education.

The fatty acids generally can be categorized as Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9.

Omega-3 fatty acids are an essential part of the structure of every cell in the body as an integral component of the cell membrane. This cell integrity enables each cell to accomplish its function. They are also powerful anti-inflammatory substances. Sources of omega-3’s are primarily found in plant, nut, and cold water fish oils, such as salmon, tuna, anchovies, mackerel, and sardines.

Omega-6 fatty acids also play an essential role in the metabolism, especially for the brain, hair, skin and reproductive systems. They do have a down side, however, in that they are pro-inflammatory. Sources of omega 6 fatty acids are a wide range of cooking oils, meats, and processed foods.

Omega 9 fatty acids increase HDL and help rid the body of LDL. Omega 9 is oleic acid and comes from olive oil and avocados.

What most of you haven’t heard about are the dangers in consuming too many Omega-6 fatty acids in comparison to Omega-3’s.  This imbalance is believed to be contributing to various factors that are leading to chronic diseases, most notably heart disease.

The ideal proportion of Omega 3 to Omega 6 in the diet would be 1:1 or perhaps even an outside range of 1:2. Due to the high levels of Omega 6 fatty acids found in the foods we typically eat in America, the ratios are commonly between 1:10 and 1:50. Some researchers have found an accurate number to be around 1:25. That means the average person eats 25 times as many Omega 6 fatty acids as is healthy for them!

This is a very strong risk factor in heart disease as excess Omega 6 fats interfere with the health benefits of Omega−3 fats, in part because they compete for the same enzymes. A high proportion of Omega 6 to Omega 3 fat in the diet shifts the body’s chemistry and physiology toward the development of many prothrombotic, proinflammatory and proconstrictive diseases, especially heart disease.

Chronic excess consumption of Omerga-6’s are highly associated with heart attacks, thrombotic stroke, arrhythmia, inflammation, high blood pressure and obesity.

In order to find out if fatty acid proportion is a risk factor for you, you need to undergo simple blood fatty acid testing. This tells you whether you have a proper ratio of all the various fatty acids. The test measures total amounts of the main fats: saturated and unsaturated and then breaks them down into Omega 3-6-9 so you can see the ratios. It also measures the specific levels of the pro-inflammatory Omega 6’s linoleic acid, gamma-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid versus anti-inflammatory Omega 3’s, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).

The average physician may be unfamiliar with this test and in some cases even be unwilling to order it since many do not understand even the basic written here.

If you are looking for an integrated health physician in your area then one good directory can be found at: www.acam.org .

If you test high in Omega 6 versus Omega 3 than you will want to avoid eating high glycemic foods, vegetable oils, red meats, egg yokes and shellfish and substitute at least 8 ounces of cold water fish (i.e. salmon or tuna) a week.

Certainly, it would be good to take Omega 3 fish oil or flax oil supplements daily as well.

The proportion of omega fatty acids in your body will begin to change rapidly as you modify your diet and over a short period of time, a high risk factor will become a highly protective factor to your heart.

Tomorrow we will talk about the last of our main risk factors – CAC level.



Day 17

Day 17: Inflammation and CRP levels.

Inflammation literally means to set on fire. That is in part why the word “inflammation” normally brings to mind “a painful swelling that occurs as a result of an injury.” This is by no means the simple truth. Inflammation is actually the result of the constant process where the body isolates, dilutes or destroys injurious agents at the cellular level and sparks its very limited self-healing powers.  It is an immune system response; often an overreaction. Unfortunately, inflammation and the resulting healing process itself can cause even further damage to the body.

How does this cycle happen?  When a bacteria, a virus or any other “foreign agent” invades the body, the immune system sends its soldiers, known as neutrophils, to fight the attack.  These specific types of good white cells smother the invaders and release highly concentrated oxygen radicals to destroy them. In most cases, at the site of the battle, there will be huge numbers of accumulated white cells, all highly active.  As excess oxygen radicals are released, they accidentally destroy healthy tissues in the area. Over a period of time, this activity produces a wide range of disease states such as heart disease and hardening of the arteries.

Today, we understand that inflammation is not only the result of disease but that it is the actual cause of many diseases.  Inflammation is all around us and occurs in everything from the foods we eat to the air we breathe. Obviously we should avoid as many highly inflammatory agents as possible, such as highly inflammatory foods, but aside from preventing excess inflammation we should be aware how to treat and control inflammation.

Remember, inflammation can be very silent and affect all the cells of the body system wide without you necessarily having any warning. The result could be highly negative ranging from slow disease onset up to and including a sudden catastrophic life ending event such as a heart attack or stroke.

The obvious question you are probably asking yourself is if you can’t necessarily see or feel inflammation, how do you know if it is a problem for you, or better yet, how can you actually measure the level of inflammation in your body? Fortunately, there are chemical “markers” in the body for inflammation. One very important “marker” is a protein made in the liver called C-reactive protein (CRP). The average CRP level for middle aged adults is about 1.5 milligrams per liter of blood. Traditionally, CRP levels above 5 milligrams per liter of blood are considered “abnormal high” which occurs in about 25% of people tested. Today, there is a large group of scientists that believe that even small elevations of CRP in the blood is very negatively significant and can lead to an increased risk of a wide array of diseases including heart attack and stroke. We believe that everyone should strive to keep their CRP levels below 1.0.

 

If you have CRP levels higher than 1.0 to 1.5 you will definitely want to think about modifying some lifestyle behaviors that contribute to inflammation.

The first lifestyle factor is diet. Why is food so important in the inflammation process? This is really simple as your body makes both inflammation causing and inflammation releasing chemicals in the body, which are called prostaglandins, from the foods that you eat. If you eat too many high sugar foods for example, your body will make an abundance of pro-inflammatory individual prostaglandins while eating foods rich in omega 3 fatty acid and the Indian spice Curcumin (turmeric) will result in your body producing more anti-inflammatory prostaglandins.

There have been entire books written about inflammatory processes and diet by top diet authors such as Barry Sears. We recommend you purchase one of these books to get a more thorough education on this life critical area.

Monica Reinagel, a well known researcher authored one of our favorite books, titled The Inflammation Free Diet Plan and established IF Ratings ™ for a variety of popular foods. Check out her work at www.inflammationfactor.com. There are even phone apps available now with her IF Food Ratings!

The bottom line is that keeping your CRP levels low is possible with the help of a good diet rich in anti-inflammatory nutrients such as the omega 3 fatty acids which promote the creation of helpful, anti-inflammatory prostaglandin E-3. Secondary dietary recommendations would be to eat higher fiber and avoid diets rich in Omega 6’s which create prostaglandins E1 and E2 which are highly inflammatory. Also avoid sugar, high carb and meat filled diets which increase arachidonic acid which is a precursor to E2.

CRP levels can also rise as a result of lifestyle factors such as smoking, lack of exercise, poor sleeping habits and poor gum health. Changing behaviors in these key areas can dramatically lower CRP levels.

Physicians often recommend aspirin, anti-inflammatory drugs and statin drugs before discussing important lifestyle changes. Since many of these agents carry with them a range of negatives, it might make sense for you to discuss lifestyle factors with your doctor first before blindly accepting drugs as the first line of defense in lowering the risk for inflammation.

Tomorrow we will discuss EFA proportion as a risk factor in heart disease.



Day 16

Day 16: Methylation and Homocysteine

Methylation is the attachment of a methyl group to another organic compound. All living organisms use methylation as a biochemical trigger switch to turn certain processes on and off. For example, when a specific gene in your DNA undergoes methylation, it will go from inactive to active. Methylation is a necessary and beneficial part of human biochemistry – until it happens at abnormal levels. Unfortunately, this can be true in up to 50 percent of the population. When methylation gets out of control, the risk for heart disease increases dramatically.

The test for methylation is a simple blood test for homocysteine level. Homocysteine is created internally from the amino acid methionine. Elevated homocysteine levels indicate that the methylation processes are not operating properly and that there is an increased risk for heart disease.

While many physicians believe that homocysteine levels below 11 are normal, we believe that if your homocysteine test levels are above 8-9, it is important that you undergo a few immediate lifestyle changes including dietary changes. Since red meat and fowl have high levels of homocysteine they should be avoided or eliminated. Since fish, fruits and vegetables have low levels of methionine they should be added. Research demonstrates that a vegan diet alone can lower homocysteine levels 13%.

There is a raging controversy over lowering homocysteine with nutrient supplementation. The controversy centers on the odd fact that although it is relatively easy to significantly lower homocysteine levels with supplements such as folic acid and B6 and B12, this has not lowered the risk of heart disease. This is odd indeed but the research is well controlled and appears both valid and reliable. As a result, if you test high for Methylation we recommend you focus on lowering it through diet modifications.

We do want to add one fact here. High homocysteine levels also predict a variety of other disease states as well as increased risk of fractured bones in the elderly. While vitamins might lower blood circulating levels of homocysteine quickly but not facilitate the fast repair of cardiovascular damage done earlier, the vitamins that lower homocysteine might have a more rapid functional effect on things like bone strength.

Tomorrow we will talk about inflammation as a risk factor in heart disease.

Day 15

Day 15: High Blood Glucose Levels 

Earlier we discussed the role that diabetes and metabolic disorder has as a risk factor for heart disease. During that discussion we focused more on insulin resistance rather than blood glucose levels although quite obviously there is an important interrelationship.

 

Today we will focus on high blood glucose and a couple of processes called glycaton and glycosylation. We discuss this as a risk factor for heart disease in those without metabolic syndrome or diabetes as well as those with these diseases.

 

Think of glycation or glycosylation as a simple process of sugar coating. During these, a protein or fat molecule is coated with sugar or glucose. The major difference is that glycation occurs spontaneously while glycosylation occurs as a result of a specific enzyme reaction.

 

The more sugar or glucose in the blood the more these sugar coating processes occur. Excess sugar coating leads to various diseases including diabetes, heart disease and also leads to accelerated aging. This happens as a result of an increased presence of what are referred to as AGE’s – advanced glycation end products, in the blood. These AGE’s create sticky balls of fuel molecules, which disrupt enzyme activity and create toxic effects.   

As we said, AGE’s are dependent on the amount of excess sugar and high glycemic foods that we eat, however, there is a second source of pre-made AGE’s that occur from the food browning process. That’s right, how a food is prepared for consumption is critically important for AGE’s.  Bread crusts, browned meats are examples of AGE formation. Any foods prepared by frying (around 575 degrees) and by broiling (around 500 degrees) result in extensive damaging AGE levels. In fact, AGE’s occur anytime foods are prepared at temperatures above boiling (212 degrees). 

The bottom line is that high levels of blood glucose increases the glycation of LDL, the key step in formation of the deadly foam cells that is the primary step in the formation of soft or vulnerable plaque, the real culprit behind a majority of heart attacks.   

Blood glucose levels can be measured by a simple fasting blood glucose test. The results of this test are highly correlated to an independent test for glycation, Hemoglobin A1c. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) is a direct measure of how much glycation is occurring in your blood.   

Most doctors feel that acceptable levels of HbA1c are less than 5.8 percent, which correlates to a blood glucose level of about 115.  Each 1% change in HbA1c seems to correlate with about a 30 point change in fasting blood sugar levels.    

In patients without diabetes, the lower the HbA1c the better for heart disease. Studies have found that individuals without diabetes, but who had "high normal" HbA1c levels (approximately 5 percent to 6 percent), were at an increased heart disease risk, even after accounting for other factors such as age, cholesterol level, blood pressure and smoking. Non-diabetic persons with HbA1c levels of 6 percent or higher had almost a two-fold greater heart disease risk compared to persons with an HbA1c level below 4.6 percent. If you do not have diabetes, you can see the importance in making dietary and meal preparation choices that lower HbA1c levels. 

In patients with diabetes, studies have found a strong association between HbA1c and an increasing heart disease risk. Each 1-percentage-point increase in the HbA1c level is associated with a 14 percent increase in heart disease risk. The American Diabetes Association indicates that HbA1c values should be less than 7 percent, however, research indicates that heart disease risk begins to increase at values below 7 percent.    

There is one additional caveat here and that in patients without diabetes we believe that we need to work on aggressively lowering HbA1c levels to lower heart disease risk but that diabetes patients should actually accept high levels of HbA1c while suffering from diabetes rather than aggressively trying to lower this reading through higher levels of pharmaceuticals which carry with them additional, scarier negative reactions. 

Tomorrow we will talk about homeocysteine as a risk factor in heart disease.

Day 14

Day 13: Triglycerides

Today we are discussing triglyceride level as a risk factor in heart disease. Triglyceride level is basically the amount of fat molecules circulating in the blood. There is considerable debate as to whether triglycerides are a risk factor independent of LDL cholesterol. Our position is that from a practical standpoint, for most, this is a moot debate, as lifestyle modifications that lower triglycerides also lower LDL and visa versa.

The best way to lower triglyceride levels is to reduce the intake of saturated fats and trans fats as well as high glycemic carbohydrates and alcohol. There are a variety of supplements that may help as well including things such as red yeast rice, policosanol, niacin, vitamin E, omega 3, phosphatidylcholine. When dietary modification and supplements fail to lower triglycerides, physicians may decide to prescribe prescription drugs such as statins that can help. There will be a full discussion of statin drugs on a later day dealing with this important class of pharmaceuticals.

Triglycerides can be measured with conventional lipid profile tests or the more sophisticated VAP test discussed yesterday. Traditionally, medical doctors tell people that triglyceride values should be under 150, however, that seems high to us. There is ample research suggesting that triglycerides become an important risk factor above a measurement of 100. Levels above 500 put a person at emergency risk.

Tomorrow we will discuss fasting glucose level as a risk factor in heart disease.

Day 13

Day 13: Cholesterol

One of the most misunderstood risk factors in heart disease is cholesterol. The misunderstanding begins with what cholesterol is and the role that cholesterol actually plays in heart disease.

Very generally speaking, and we’ll get to the more true detail later, the real story of cholesterol and heart disease starts with LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol. This is the cholesterol that people refer to as “bad” cholesterol. That isn’t really an appropriate characterization due to the fact that you need LDL to survive. LDL transports cholesterol from the liver to the cells throughout the body to keep them healthy. It also precurses many of the various sex hormones as well. Without LDL, you would die so we don’t like to consider it “bad.”

The problem with LDL is that when there is more than we need for the important metabolic functions, it adheres to the artery walls and begins a modification process that leads to heart disease. Specifically, oxygen reacts with LDL through a process called oxidation and with excessive blood sugar (glucose) through a process called glycation. When this occurs the LDL particles “appear” to be foreign to the immune system and different types of white blood cells such as monocytes get dispatched to destroy the invader particles. When the monocytes enter the LDL to destroy it, they transform into macrophages and begin to consume the LDL eventually turning into what are called “foam cells.” Foam cells are the start of vulnerable plaque, which is the core of most heart attacks. Inflammation then causes smooth muscle cells to grow over the foam cells and create fiberous coats. As inflammation continues, the fiberous deposits can rupture spewing the dangerous contents of the foam cells into the bloodstream where they can stimulate a response that creates clots which then can lead to heart attacks.

Keeping LDL low is the first goal of creating a healthy heart.

A second type of cholesterol is called HDL, which is High Density Lipoprotein. This is often referred to as “good” cholesterol since its primary job is to remove LDL from the bloodstream.

In order to find out if cholesterol is a risk factor for you, you should get a VAP Lipid Profile blood test. You may have never heard of a VAP profile but it is far better than the common lipid panel blood test, which includes a total cholesterol measure as well as, more importantly, LDL and HDL. If you have to rely on the less valuable basic test, optimally your goal for LDL should be under 100 although some physicians consider normal to be below 160. If you have found yourself with multiple risk factors, you really should try to get the LDL score below 80.

Additionally, your HDL should be 50 or higher. If it tests lower than 40, you have to consider yourself at high risk for heart disease.

The better VAP Lipid Profile measures LDL in a more direct manner, which is far more accurate and also gives you values for the dangerous larger “A” LDL particles and the less dangerous smaller “B” LDL particles. VAP includes measures of the aforementioned lipoprotein A, IDL, and VLDL, which are better risk factor measurements than total cholesterol and LDL. It also splits HDL into HDL-2 and HDL-3, which are functionally different. HDL-2 is a very protective form of HDL and if the levels of this are low, it presents a significant risk factor for developing heart disease.

You can readily see why the VAP test is better as a general HDL level can be as misleading as to risk as a general cholesterol measure can be.

Most abnormal cholesterol levels can be rather quickly improved with the proper diet of higher fiber, less saturated and trans fat diets. Less simple sugars lower the chance of glycation, which can help as well. The one exception is that elevated lipoprotein A seems to be more hereditary in origin and does not respond well to diet modifications or even conventional cholesterol lowering drugs. There is research indicating that a 3 gram cocktail of equal parts Vitamin C, Lysine and Proline in equal amounts can effect a positive change.

Tomorrow we will discuss another measure of fats in the blood, triglycerides, which is measured at the same time as cholesterol in all the lipid profile tests.