Medical Questions » Heart Questions » Question No. 1311
| Question: | I' ve had a heart attack but my cholesterol levels are OK - what do you suggest I do? |
| Answer: | It is a complete myth that cholesterol is the only baddie in heart disease. In fact, more than half of heart attack victims have normal cholesterol levels. Two rarely checked factors linked to heart attacks are lipoprotein(a) and homocysteine. Lipoprotein(a), a type of fat in the blood, increases the risk of heart disease if it builds up on artery walls. Homocysteine is an amino acid present in the blood and a normal by-product of body processes, but it is not detoxified well in people with low levels of vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid. Many studies showed that people with high blood levels of homocysteine have a substantially increased risk of a heart attack. In the US, cardiologists routinely measure homocysteine levels, but this is still a rarity in the UK.
You can keep your homocysteine levels in check by taking vitamins B6, B12, folic acid and an amino acid called trimethylglycine (TMG). There are spe-cific supplements that contain all of these. Other risk factors for high homocysteine include high-meat diets, too much coffee, tea or alcohol, smoking and lack of exercise, so a shift in lifestyle might be in order. You can counteract lipoprotein(a) build-up by taking 3g of vitamin C daily and 1,000mg of the amino acid Lysine. In short, there' s a lot you can do to minimize risk and maximize recovery from a heart attack. |
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