High, triglycerides is it THAT important??

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Hi guys,

Some months back hubby had the video cam up the artery from the groin (can't recall what the
process is as called) and the doc came out while he was still a bit dopy and spoke to us. He said,
no plaque or blockages of any kind, and to quote "squeaky clean" We went away happy that the
slight breath shortness was just the fact we live at 5000+ feet and he has congenitally small
arteries on the back of the heart and strenuous exertion is to be avoided.

OK, so much for background. He has been taking Gemfibrozil for high triglycerides (cholesterol has
always been fine) for a about two years now and it suddenly occurred to me that if treating high
triglycerides is to prevent plaque then maybe he can drop taking them.

His triglycerides have always been high and his doc had never bothered with them (because he said
the cholesterol was fine) until about two years back when he suggest the gemfibrozil to bring them
down a bit.

We both like the idea of taking as few meds as absolutely necessary for safe survival and if the
high triglycerides are not causing a problem then why treat them?

High triglycerides are believed to be more of a CAD risk factor when there is MetS in the
background.

Quoted message said:

Can he quit the Gemfibrozil?

He shouldn't if he has MetS.

Quoted message said:

naturally we will put this to his doc but we'd like some alternative thoughts so we can make some
sort of informed decision.

Thanks in advance.

You are welcome.

Humbly,

Andrew
--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
heartmdphd.comheartmdphd.comOpen ↗

On 20 Nov 2003 14:28:05 -0800, [email hidden] (Dr. Andrew B.
Chung, MD/PhD) wrote:

Hi Dr Chung, and thank you for responding.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

High triglycerides are believed to be more of a CAD risk factor when there is MetS in the
background.

Pardon my ignorance, but CAD and MetS, what are they?

--

Kind regards,
Jenny and her tribe of survivors.

[email hidden] wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On 20 Nov 2003 14:28:05 -0800, [email hidden] (Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD) wrote:

Hi Dr Chung, and thank you for responding.

You are very welcome :-)

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

High triglycerides are believed to be more of a CAD risk factor when there is MetS in the
background.

Pardon my ignorance, but CAD and MetS, what are they?

CAD is coronary artery disease.

MetS is metabolic syndrome.

Humbly,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
heartmdphd.comheartmdphd.comOpen ↗

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Pardon my ignorance, but CAD and MetS, what are they?

CAD is coronary artery disease.

MetS is metabolic syndrome.

Wow, now wasn't that a highly informative description of what "Met S" is ???

The term "metabolic syndrome" was new to me when it was mentioned a week or so ago in one of these
threads that related to high triglycerides.

Now I thought that the term "syndrome" described something specific (like downs syndrome). But
"metabolic syndrome" ?? Who the hell thought of that term? Way too general. You know, we all die.
Maybe there's something called "death syndrome". There are certainly dozens of metabolic disorders.
Anyone of them could wear the title of "metabolic syndrome".

Anyways, here's some USEFUL information about "metabolic syndrome". BTW, in what must have taken
someone many days of pondering and deep thought, the term "Syndrome X" is also being used.

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"The metabolic syndrome, a cluster of potent risk factors for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
and type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults, is composed of insulin resistance, obesity, hypertension and
hyperlipidemia."

ncbi.nlm.nih.govquery.fcgiOpen ↗
t=Abstract

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Syndrome X, a cluster of several metabolic disorders that includes hyperinsulinemia,
hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension, is associated with severe vascular morbidity.

ncbi.nlm.nih.govquery.fcgiOpen ↗
t=Abstract

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The metabolic syndrome (also known as the dysmetabolic syndrome, syndrome X, or the insulin
resistance syndrome) represents a clustering of metabolic disorders--central obesity, impaired
fasting glucose, dyslipidemia and hypertension--that in adults predicts the development of type 2
diabetes and/or coronary artery disease.

The metabolic syndrome in adults is defined according to the National Cholesterol Education
Program Adult Treatment Panel III by the presence of at least three of five components: increased
abdominal girth; hypertension; hypertriglyceridemia; low levels of high density lipoprotein
cholesterol; and impaired fasting glucose. These metabolic derangements have been targeted in the
adult population because they confer risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis and
premature cardiovascular disease.

grants1.nih.govRFA HD 03 033.htmlOpen ↗

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