News Digest - The Cholesterol Issue

Turning away from Coronavirus for this week’s news digest and will focus on cholesterol.

You may not have a cholesterol problem but you probably know someone that does. I won’t tell you if you should or should not take cholesterol medication. That is between you and your doctor.

The information in this Digest may not be new to you but it is to me.

What is your CAC score and why should you care?

What is atherosclerosis and should I be concerned?

Does sugar increase my cholesterol? 

Cholesterol Wake Up Call

Last week my wife got a call from her doctor. Results from recent lab tests showed a spike in her cholesterol numbers. The doc was concerned but not alarmed. She suggested a CT to determine her CAC score (Coronary Artery Calcium).

The test is not covered by insurance or Medicare. Don’t ask me why it isn’t covered. I don’t know.

But like many things excluded from insurance, the cost is nominal.

It takes about 15 minutes and costs about $100.

We opted to schedule the scan. Will know the results in a week or so.

I am vaguely familiar with the test but decided to learn more. Rachel and I have known each other since our teenage years. We were college sweethearts and expect to celebrate our 45th anniversary in a few months.

A calcium score (sometimes called an Agatston score) is calculated based on the amount of plaque observed in the CT scan. It may be converted to a percentile rank based on your age and gender. - umms.org

Scores range from a perfect “0” to 400+.

Anything under 100 is good.

I don’t recall hearing that term when I was growing up, but “hardening of the arteries” was mentioned.

According to my father, anyone with hardening of the arteries was cranky and forgetful.

He probably had that condition as long as I had known him.

Arteries pump blood and nutrients to your body. Too much cholesterol could deposit plaque in your arteries. Build up can restrict blood flow. 

Atherosclerosis is the leading cause of heart attack, strokes and PVD (peripheral vascular disease). - Web MD

Saturated fat is not the only culprit if you have high cholesterol.

Sugar has been blamed for a number of ailments, most are well deserved. But this finding might be eye opening.

• Diets high in sugar make your liver synthesize more “bad” LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.
• A sugary diet lowers your “good” HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol.
• Excess sugar profoundly raises your triglycerides (a type of blood fat). At the same time, it inhibits an enzyme that breaks triglycerides down.

Link to the Cleveland Clinic for more details.

Wrapping up . . .

I felt it was time to take a break from Corona and this single topic (cholesterol) was interesting to me. 

Let me know if you learned anything from this week’s digest. If you have other topics you would like to see in future editions, just let me know.

I enjoy doing research, especially when information that is helpful can be passed along.

Take care,

Bob