Meeting with GP, June, 2013

I'd expressed my concern that statistics from both the Orange County Heart Center and LifeLine have projected something like a 30% chance of a heart incident in the next 10 years. I didn't want to be fatalistic and wondered whether given all that I was doing, that was still the risk probability. The response was "don't worry about LifeLine's stats!"

Yet there wasn't another number that he could substitute for the 30%. Again the line was "you are doing all that you can...". Right, right.

In fact, the LifeLine page made a distinction between things that could be controlled and things not. Weight is a factor - and was mentioned by my GP as well. You can take aspirin (which I am). But the genetic predisposition to arteriosclerosis in my family is significant. And it's not likely that I've rolled back much plaque buildup. I have set a goal of losing 10 points by mid-October (205-195).

There is a minor concern in my SGPT (ALT) liver enzyme reading. It is 55 where the outer limit of normal is 39. I checked earlier liver results and find them not out of range. The ration between the two has remained constant for example. I've had a high or 70. Mostly, though, the readings have been in the 30's. I wonder whether some resavatrol or an extra Niaspan before the last-but-one test may have caused the spike. If the trend continues I'll alternate 2.5 with 5 mg doses of Crestor. If not, I'll cut back down to 2.5/day.