Heart Attack or Spasm of the Arteries? Posted: 02-15-06 03:09am
I am a 36 year old male, I had a heart
attack 3 months ago, the Angiogram showed
no blockage. My cholesterol level for LDL
was 90 at the time, HDL 37 - normal blood
pressure, the cause of MI may have been a
spasm?
I am now on Cholesterol medicine (Lipitor)
and I have dramatically changed my diet
(Absolutely no fried foods or fast food
and lots of salads and vegis. I have lost
15 pounds since and yesterday went in for
a Lipid panel. My LDL is now 41 and my HDL
is now 47.
Should I be taking medicine to lower my
already low Cholesterol? And, what are the
side effects of an LDL level under 50? Are
there any?
I am not sure that you have experienced a
heart attack because you didn’t tell me
anything about your clinical symptoms
(chest pain), typical ECG-abnormalities,
and laboratory analyses (increased level
of enzymes (ALT, AST, LDH, and CP-MB),
troponine). I don’t think that spasm(s)
can cause heart attack. A spasm of the
coronary arteries, however, can cause
vazo-spastic angina pectoris. Because
there wasn’t blockage on the angiogram,
it seems likely that you didn’t have a
heart attack. Rather, you may have
experienced an instable angina pectoris.
This is also a serious condition so you
have to take your prescribed medicines
regularly and to perform regular medical
checks. There aren’t any side effects of
low cholesterol but there could be side
effects of Lipitop (liver damage), so you
have to control your liver status (ALT,
AST,CPK) once every 4 months.
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