Yearly Doctor's Visit - Holding, but with a Flag

Had my yearly check up a couple of weeks ago and my lab work done a couple of days ago. Just talked with my Dr. on the phone with the lab results. Okay on lipds, pretty much as expected. Sounds like a little high on the LDL's. I heard something like 116, but will pick up the results in the next day or so.

Big picture is that I have almost achieved the goals I set out at the beginning of this Blog. No way I can get my HDL much above the mid-forties, but the rest are pretty much in line. My doctor is satisfied however.

The flag? My ferritin is on the high side. I heard something like 600, but it has been high. My doctor is concerned that too much iron is ending up in my liver. Hemochromotosis is the specific condition. It is treated by blood letting. Shades of the Middle Ages! I'll check with a specialist, whose name I'll pick up with the lab results.My take? I've long had "fatty liver" syndrome. That was my Kaiser doctor's diagnosis twenty years ago. My current doctor, being cautious, wants to rule out hemochromotosis. Me too.

I noted that my ferritin level in 2014 was 678. The upper end is supposed to be 300 or so. It's probably been near 600 since it stopped being monitored in late 2008. It was quite intensively monitored in 2007, with 4 separate tests, averaging 572. It averaged 500 in 2008.

I think the high ferritin is associated with my familial lipid dysfunction (Hyperproteinemia IIIb) rather than with hemochomotosis. We'll see.

My Ownindex topped out at 43 recently. My CPAP is working well. I put in about 50 miles week cycling and will do more hiking.

I'll cut down on red meat. And try to lose 10 pounds. Maybe go vegetarian a couple of days a week. Maybe fast most of a day one day a week and increase that to two if it works. This is important but I do love to eat and snack!