Just posting on my latest blood report. I experienced an almost 100%
blockage in my right coronary artery on Feb. 3, '03. Was outfitted with
a stent and since then I've had 3 blood workups, a couple EKG's, and a
stress echo. There's been no further symptoms; both the EKG and stress
echo appeared to show absolutely no effects of the blockage.

My dad died of a heart attack at 47 y.o. and I've been having blood
tests done every few years since I was about 28 - am now 41.

Diet: Pre-Feb.3, I was following a hi-carb, low fat diet. Ate pasta,
oats, bread, lean usually non-red meats, lots of fruits and some veggies
- I ate plenty of sugar and didn't worry too much about it as long as it
was low-fat. Had gradually increased my weight 30+ pounds over 6 years
or so.

Two years prior to the heart blockage my blood report looked like this:
Total Chol: 191
HDL: 37
LDL: 124
TriG: 149
HDL Ratio: 5.16
Weight: 205

Diet: Two weeks post-Feb.3, a friend recommended I read Dr. Diane
Schwartzbein's book. I then and there decided to give low-carbing a try
and have been doing so ever since. (I've not read any of Atkins books,
but have followed a diet where I restrict practically all carbs except
green veggies, 2cps of milk/dy, and will have about 3-4 apples a week.
This summer I splurged on watermelon and peaches and while I stopped
losing weight, I didn't gain any either. I eat meat at practically every
meal - breakfast is a 44 g. protein shake. Lean steak, chicken, fish and
burger patties for lunch and dinner. I've not had bread or potatoes in
months and months - though I do have about 1/2 cup of pasta or rice once
a week or so.

Vitamins per day after Feb.: 8 grams of vitamin C, 2000 mg fish oil,
100mg B-6, 1000 mcg B-12, 400mg Folic Acid, 6 grams L-Lysine 6 grams.

Exercise: Since Feb. I make every attempt to workout 3-5 times per week
at about 30-60 minutes per session. I've swum, treadmilled and
weightlifted. I push my heart rate up to 85-90% of calculated max and
try to maintain it for as long as I can.

Drugs: Post Feb, I was put on Plavix, Lovastatin, Lisinopril, Metropolol
and  Asprin. My cardiologist has taken me off everything except the
daily aspirin. He didn't see the need for the statin since my blood work
was so good and the blood pressure drugs were driving my BP too low (I
didn't and don't have hi-BP).

February 21 blood test performed by family doc just a week or so after
starting low carb:
Total Chol: 167
HDL: 44
LDL: 109
TriG: 68
HDL Ratio: 3.8
Lipoprotein (a): 46 mg/dL
Homocysteine: 11.9 umol/L
Weight: 194

In April, a month and a half since I started statin, low carbing and
exercising, blood test taken by the cardiologist looked like:
Total Chol: 126
HDL: 47
LDL: 68
TriG: 53
HDL Ratio: 2.68
Lipoprotein (b):56 mg/dL
Homocysteine: 7 umol/L
hsC-React. Protein: 1.1 mg/L
Weight: 183 (I had lost 20lbs in 6 weeks)

My latest blood workup, statin-free, low-carb and exercising:
Total Chol: 146
HDL: 63
LDL: 74
TriG: 45
HDL Ratio: 2.3
Lipoprotein (a): 19 mg/dL
Lipoprotein (b): 69 mg/dL
Homocysteine: 9.0 umol/L
hsC-React. Protein: .6 mg/L
Weight: 175

I had stopped the Lysine supplement mid-summer and will start that up
again. That may help bring the Lipoprotein back down to the April
reading of 7 if Linus Pauling's theory was correct.

Well, there it is - seems as though whatever I'm doing is having a
positive effect on the numbers.

If anyone's interested in seeing 15 years worth of tests...
<http://users.easystreet.com/onlnlowe/misc/cholestsprdsheet.JPG