Is there a "Cardiovascular disease is a personal choice" version? I've been trying hard recently and got my LDL to below 80 but it's been stubborn to go significantly below that (my most recent test result was 75 but it's really been a lot slower since reaching 80)
I'm not an expert!! But, my general impression is that unless you're able to do an extreme regimine, like Bryan Johnson, diet and exercise interventions are not going to move the needle much. Probably I should have mentioned it, but it's pretty implicit in the piece.
But even Bryan Johnson takes red yeast rice, which is a natural statin, about as strong as prescription.
What types of things are you trying?
By the way, in addition to LDL-C you should be checking ApoB, Peter Attia says it's better -- ApOB sits on the outside of LDL and some other of the "bad" cholesterol particle types. You'll get a gauge of particle count, whereas LDL-C is the total amount in the particles.
Good question RE red yeast rice extract! Well, unfortunately, the FDA has been cracking down on it and sets limits on how much of the active ingredient it can contain. Also, with such supplements, he never know exactly how much you’re getting.
Hi Dan! Fellow Peter Attia fan here; I recently discovered that there are several telemedicine services (such as AgelessRx and Sesame) which will prescribe statins after you submit bloodwork to confirm that your liver function, etc, is fine. This is probably more expensive than the red-yeast-rice route ($30/month for 10mg Atorvastatin, in my case, versus only about $10/month for a random giant jar of red yeast rice gummies on Amazon) but the certainty of actually knowing the amount of medication I am taking (and the fact that they accept tax-free HSA funds) makes me feel it's worthwhile.
Thanks for writing up this article; I'm glad to know that there's a possible route to finally getting the FDA to approve statins OTC. I'm curious about the (more futuristic) path towards a wide rollout of gene therapies. From a technical / economic perspective (ie assuming the FDA went full transhumanist and was totally on board with whatever), is there a path whereby getting a PCSK9 gene therapy could be as cheap and easy as, say, making an appointment to get some vaccines before traveling to a tropical country? Or would it necessarily be a more involved / expensive procedure? And then, back in the real world with a non-transhumanist FDA, medical establishment, and so forth, what would be the possible path towards rolling out this kind of gene therapy (ie, something intended for pretty much everyone to take, like the yearly flu shot, rather than a treatment for patients with a specific rare disease)?
I actually at one point did a BJ style intervention where I tracked everything I ate for a good 6 months, it's what got me from 104 to 78. I'd eat Chia seeds and one of almonds or walnuts every day, and sometimes flax) Beans (black, Lengitls, Kidney, Split peas) and try to get my protein from Yogurt so I didn't eat much saturated fat. (I made sure to eat less than 15 grams of sat fat a day on a 2400 calorie diet)
I would also go out on a morning 3 mile run.
It really *did* help. I'll mention that I wasn't *super extreme* and probably could have done more, I just didn't know *what* more I could do past eating beans/Vegetables/other sources of fiber eating nuts/seeds and avoiding saturated fat.
I'm having trouble understanding the paper that suggests a 90% (for men, 78% for women) decrease in risk. I think that reflects the difference between the highest and lowest "PDAY" scores? I don't quite figure out what that is, but it seems like most people might have intermediate scores, meaning the drop in risk is less?
Is there a "Cardiovascular disease is a personal choice" version? I've been trying hard recently and got my LDL to below 80 but it's been stubborn to go significantly below that (my most recent test result was 75 but it's really been a lot slower since reaching 80)
I'm not an expert!! But, my general impression is that unless you're able to do an extreme regimine, like Bryan Johnson, diet and exercise interventions are not going to move the needle much. Probably I should have mentioned it, but it's pretty implicit in the piece.
But even Bryan Johnson takes red yeast rice, which is a natural statin, about as strong as prescription.
What types of things are you trying?
By the way, in addition to LDL-C you should be checking ApoB, Peter Attia says it's better -- ApOB sits on the outside of LDL and some other of the "bad" cholesterol particle types. You'll get a gauge of particle count, whereas LDL-C is the total amount in the particles.
"But even Bryan Johnson takes red yeast rice, which is a natural statin, about as strong as prescription."
So why do we need OTC statins in that case?
Good question RE red yeast rice extract! Well, unfortunately, the FDA has been cracking down on it and sets limits on how much of the active ingredient it can contain. Also, with such supplements, he never know exactly how much you’re getting.
Hi Dan! Fellow Peter Attia fan here; I recently discovered that there are several telemedicine services (such as AgelessRx and Sesame) which will prescribe statins after you submit bloodwork to confirm that your liver function, etc, is fine. This is probably more expensive than the red-yeast-rice route ($30/month for 10mg Atorvastatin, in my case, versus only about $10/month for a random giant jar of red yeast rice gummies on Amazon) but the certainty of actually knowing the amount of medication I am taking (and the fact that they accept tax-free HSA funds) makes me feel it's worthwhile.
Thanks for writing up this article; I'm glad to know that there's a possible route to finally getting the FDA to approve statins OTC. I'm curious about the (more futuristic) path towards a wide rollout of gene therapies. From a technical / economic perspective (ie assuming the FDA went full transhumanist and was totally on board with whatever), is there a path whereby getting a PCSK9 gene therapy could be as cheap and easy as, say, making an appointment to get some vaccines before traveling to a tropical country? Or would it necessarily be a more involved / expensive procedure? And then, back in the real world with a non-transhumanist FDA, medical establishment, and so forth, what would be the possible path towards rolling out this kind of gene therapy (ie, something intended for pretty much everyone to take, like the yearly flu shot, rather than a treatment for patients with a specific rare disease)?
I actually at one point did a BJ style intervention where I tracked everything I ate for a good 6 months, it's what got me from 104 to 78. I'd eat Chia seeds and one of almonds or walnuts every day, and sometimes flax) Beans (black, Lengitls, Kidney, Split peas) and try to get my protein from Yogurt so I didn't eat much saturated fat. (I made sure to eat less than 15 grams of sat fat a day on a 2400 calorie diet)
I would also go out on a morning 3 mile run.
It really *did* help. I'll mention that I wasn't *super extreme* and probably could have done more, I just didn't know *what* more I could do past eating beans/Vegetables/other sources of fiber eating nuts/seeds and avoiding saturated fat.
My ApoB test is in 6 months so I'll know then.
I'm having trouble understanding the paper that suggests a 90% (for men, 78% for women) decrease in risk. I think that reflects the difference between the highest and lowest "PDAY" scores? I don't quite figure out what that is, but it seems like most people might have intermediate scores, meaning the drop in risk is less?