I think one thing we have to ask ourselves before getting an expensive test is, "What will I do differently if my results are bad?"

If you're currently living on pizza and beer and you find you have a high risk of heart attack, then getting a warning that you're at high risk might be the kick in the butt you need to change your lifestyle.

But it's my understanding that Lp(a) is primarily genetic, and there's not too much we can do about it except try to make sure our other lab test results are good. If they're already good, like David's, and if we already get a lot of exercise, like David, then what more can we do?

In the future, I'm sure they'll be able to draw up a personal prescription on the basis of genetic predispositions and responses to different drugs. But now we're mostly in the dark.

For example, some people claim you should avoid saturated fat. Other people claim that saturated fat is healthy. I suspect the real answer depends on both your personal chemistry and how much fat you're eating.

For example, if you're not eating much fat, perhaps a little more sat fat would be beneficial. But thinking "saturated fat is good for me" and slurping down huge piles of lamb fat with every meal might do just the opposite.

I read one study that showed that the monounsaturated fat in olive oil is beneficial, but there was also a comment saying that the beneficial effect was lost if you ate too much of it. Most people won't notice that caveat. They'll think, "Olive oil is good for you" and they'll eat too much.

So, David, if your calcium scores are bad, or, more likely, slightly above normal for your age, what will you do differently?

David Mendosa

10/19/09 2:25pm

Dear Gretchen,

 

Interesting question. The only thing I easily could do is to cut back on supplemental calcium in my multi-vitamin and/or multi-mineral pills.

 

Best regards,

 

David

frankenduf

10/22/09 4:03pm

also could be related to supplemental vitamin D

Renee

11/ 6/09 9:05pm

Hi David

Long time no talk.  Fyi, since I have recently found that my calcium score is over 1000 (which is bad since the ideal is 0), I have queried my cardiolgist about reducing my calcium intake,  He says that the ingested calcium has nothing to do with the buildup of calcium in the blood vessels.  The only thing to do is to follow the protocol for the cardiovascular problems, increasing exercise and watching nutrition in hopes of keeping it from going higher.

Renoozie

David Mendosa

11/ 6/09 9:18pm

Dear Renee,

 

Calcium scores are something high on my list of problems to understand better. I hope that your message will trigger more knowledgeable replies than mine. Your doctor's advice to watch your nutrition and hope sounds completely unhelpful to me. I have a feeling that he or she doesn't know any more about calcium scores than you or I do. Do others?

 

Best regards,

 

David