Good god.

Aquawave wrote: »

GaleHawkins wrote: »

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Pj_EjhNvdS4&t=561s

This doctor is very fast talking but he does talk about CAC testing and what to do about it. There are other related videos by others.

There seems to be reversing methods but I do not know their effectiveness. Below is a two part K2 seminary.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DTspHSbuxQU&t=1641s

Thanks for the video links. I have finally had time to watch them, very interesting. I started K-2 a few weeks ago and as a result of the video have now upped my dosage to 100, twice a day. Have ordered another bottle on Amazon, Lightening deal today. It may or may not regress the calcification, but at least there is the promise of slowing the progression. And I, like many menopausal women used to take calcium pills. I stopped those about 3 years ago after hearing the news about them causing heart blockages. Now I know why.

The video talked about statins causing calcification and how that may be a protective mechanism. Interesting.

@Aquawave I think we got on K vitamins in late 2015 when we learned Vitamin D can lead to calcium deposits in the arteries which we now know that could lead to high CAC scores if Vitamin K1 and K2 is low to nonexistent.

We started with and still use LifeExtension Super K with 1500 mcg of K1, 1000 mcg of K2 MK4 and 200 mcg of K2 MK7. About a month before my CAC scoring based off info posted about reducing CAC scores I when very high with added K2 MK7. Currently I am adding about 3000 mcg of K2-MK-7 daily to see if I can free up my frozen spine and other joints. Even at low dosage I think it is helping. Now I can open my mouth wide enough to get my teeth cleaned and checked. Have not needed any new dental work since starting K2 but that may not have been a factor.

I do not advice others on what and how much supplements to take because any and all supplements care some level of risk based on my reading of a ton of research. In my case I see the informed risks less than the risk of my first 63 years of life way of eating.

Warning: K2 can lower blood pressure in some people I am 100% certain. It does not in my case but I have been kind of heavy on K2 starting in 2015.

My preferred K2 MK7 is Healthy Origins K2 MK7 100 mcg with 180 Veggie Softgels filled with EV olive oil. I got in 5 more bottles yesterday because it is getting harder to find it seems.

When I go for a new CAC scoring test in 11 months I will see if high K2 MK7 has had a positive impact on my new CAC score at that time or not.

Sorry the doctor said do more of the same but expect different results.

Thankfully I got Rx Med free in 2004 and still take no Rx meds and have great health markers since with the NMR Lipid Panel ruled out my 300 total cholesterol as being a health risk in my case and that the included IR test score indicated my IR health risk is highly resolved.

Keep reading on the subject and keep in mind 90% of what you may read may need to be discarded. Patterns finally started to appear in the reading. Most every article/research has value in the mix but it can be very hard to pick out.

I am nearly three years into this WOE and learn more every week now than I learned in the first year.

The first thing I now look for is "Will doing this Kill me".

Aquawave wrote: »

I tell you, meeting a doctor with a god complex for the first time was a real shocker. The stress test makes sense, take a pill to excrete all the fat you ate because you have bound up the bile chemically? Unbelievable in this day and age! Why not just eat Olestra or ex-Lax? Same results - adult Pampers.

Zetia = Olestra?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=P-N5UakzxyM

This is a fast paced 4 minute video. The list of supplements matched some that I have been taking for a while that claim to reverse calcium build up in the arteries.

The side bar will list other K2 videos.

Aquawave wrote: »

We received the Calcium and lipid profile results for my husband in the mail. Without statins, his lipid profile if perfectly normal. His calcium score is 569, excessive plaque burden. His diabetes is worse than mine, but has gotten a whole lot better since we started LCHF last year. His high blood pressure has been under control with meds for at least 25 years. Age 65.

Go figure, both of us on the same diet, his lipid profile is great (and yet a high calcium score?!), while my lipids are abysmal. Different genes. He has always had great lipid profiles without statins, but about 6 or 7 years ago his endocrinologist put him on statins because he was a diabetic. He went off them when we started this diet.

Whew.

The CAC scan is a cheap test, but we don't get one every decade, even if we're diabetic or otherwise at risk.

On the other hand, we gleefully spend countless $$ on lipid panels (every 3 months, in my case) and drugs to beautify their contours.

Clownfish423 wrote: »

Great thread! I've been low carb for many years and recently lost another 20 pounds using low carb and intermittent fasting. I'm up about 2 pounds from two vacations in May and am going back to 16:8 IF today. My physical is set up in July and my doctor will give me his usual parrot speech about statins. He was thrilled with my weight loss at a followup visit, but didn't even ask me how I did it. My A1c went from 7 to 6.1 without diabetic meds (I've been type 2 for about 10 years).

I've been reading the newest book by Dr. William Davis, the cardiologist who wrote the "Wheat Belly" series. The book is called "Undoctored" and goes into modern medicine and how it has basically failed us. He mentions that most likely, your doctor is still pushing the same thing to this patients that he learned in medical school, which in the case of my doctor is some 30 years ago! My doctor is salaried and I'm familiar with the medical company he works for - it's all about pushing billable procedures and drugs. He is also pushed to see his "quota" of patients daily. His "statin speech" has been perfected over the years, and he spouts it out like a parrot in his monotone voice. The only reason I'm still with him is he doesn't bug me too much otherwise!

There's a recent Undoctored thread you might enjoy. (just bumped)

Please forgive the unsolicited advice.....

I am not knocking your excellent progress, but if it were me (T2D), I would not rest comfortably with an A1c = 6.

http://www.rajeun.net/HbA1c_glucose.html

Everyone's their own science project, of course. Personally, I can stay around 5.0 with drastically-reduced carbs and 2500mg of brand Glucophage (NOT generic Metformin). If I'm getting BG readings that would translate to an A1c above 5.4, I start looking for a fix.

(NB. I've already got mild heart disease - revealed on a CAC scan, which only one cardiologist in 25 years steered me toward).

I'd remind them that you have a high deductible. It might faze them, or not. I always bring it up. I have an astronomical deductible as well. Sometimes they listen and work with you; sometimes they don't. It's worth a shot.

Clownfish423 wrote: »

Interesting chart! I haven't seen that before. I'm not resting with 6. I was just thrilled to drop it from 7! My goal is definitely in the lower 5's. I'm hoping to have more progress by the time of my physical in a few months. The combination of LCHF and increased exercise definitely helped with my weight loss and moved my A1c in the right direction!

Your advice is appreciated Also, thanks again for bumping the Undoctored thread!

You're on the right track - insulin resistance takes months to subside, so if you're still seeing drops in your BG (like decreasing weekly fasting and post-prandial averages), roll with it!

BTW, your lipid profile may appear to degenerate during your weight loss phase. Stephen Phinney and Jeff Volek explain that your lipids don't stabilize until you've hit goal weight and have been in maintenance for while. You can find their great intro vids on Youtube - check out the JumpstartMD channel for interview segments separated by topic.

Aquawave wrote: »

This is a link to an article written by a reporter who had no adverse signs of health problems and had a Calcium Heart Scan done which ultimately ended up with him having bypass surgery. The only risk factor was his parents health history. It saved his life.

http://www.djournal.com/pontotoc/heart-surgery-patient-applauds-preventive-heart-tests/article_8ac535a5-55f1-5162-afaf-ce2ef34c7fe5.html

I recently asked my wonderful diabetes doc about his experience with screening for heart disease.

He related a patient story of a woman in her late 30s - former collegiate athlete, 3 kids, full-time job - who simply felt chronically tired, which had never been a problem before. He ran bloodwork, including a simple lipid panel, a stress test, and an echocardiogram - all were ok. He said he was convinced by her constant reports of unabating fatigue that she had some circulatory problem, and he eventually browbeat a cardiologist into doing a heart cath (CACs weren't available locally at the time).

As it turned out, she had 80% blockage spread throughout her arteries, which for that reason produced a false negative on the imaging study. She went straight to surgery for a multiple bypass - and has lived to tell about it (and even made some PSAs for local media). Years later, when NMR Advanced Lipoprotein analysis became available, he found that her particle counts were in the highest risk category almost across the board.....

Moral? Everyone with any appreciable CVD risk factors should get a CAC screening and NMR study in their 40s.

(As a high-risk patient, I was sent off for a $25 ultrasound screening for vascular disease - lower aorta, carotid, and lower leg arteries.)

That is good news. Somewhere I read it can be the statins that results in high CAC scores plus there is no medical research that shows lower chance of heart disease in females by taking statins. If I run across it again I will post the line to the article or video.

Aquawave wrote: »

This is a link to an article written by a reporter who had no adverse signs of health problems and had a Calcium Heart Scan done which ultimately ended up with him having bypass surgery. The only risk factor was his parents health history. It saved his life.

http://www.djournal.com/pontotoc/heart-surgery-patient-applauds-preventive-heart-tests/article_8ac535a5-55f1-5162-afaf-ce2ef34c7fe5.html

This one has got to be the most astonishing story yet.... Distance runner, 139 lbs, total cholesterol = 160, no symptoms.

But for the CAC, he'd be walking around with areas of 90% blockage. Yet the test, though cheap(!), is not covered by insurance and is rarely recommended by cardiologists.