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["Wendy" <crazygardens AT verizon.net>]

Your welcome, Bev.  There are many reasons why triglyceride levels can be 
excessive.  There are also reasons why cholesterol tests will give an 
erroneous indication of elevated triglycerides or give an actual reading of 
an elevated triglyceride count that is only a temporary fluctuation under 
the circumstances.  For example, cholesterol tests are usually given after a 
fasting period.  This is to eliminate any cholesterol that may have been in 
your diet.  However, if you fast and do work that requires your body to call 
for energy production, your triglyceride level will spike as fat stores (in 
the form of a triglyceride) are released to be converted into energy. 
Directions for a cholesterol test should be, "Fast and do not exert 
yourself."  People who are dieting and routinely restrict their calorie 
intake often have elevated levels of triglycerides for the same reasons.  It 
is funny that when they tell someone to diet and exercise to reduce 
cholesterol levels, their cholesterol levels can actually increase and many 
docs have not figured it out yet.  lol

I understand about assumptions.  When I got married the first time, we gave 
everyone about two weeks notice.  Everyone assumed I was pregnant.  Our 
first child was not conceived until four years later.  lol   The reality was 
that we were both college students and classes were starting.

Your liver is not hitting on all cylinders?  Bummer.  There are also many 
reasons for your liver to suffer reduced function.  Excessive alcohol is 
only one of them (however it is the most common).

Wendy

> Thank you so much for this Wendy.  I am one of those people who
> regularly has triglycerides in excess of 700.  My cholesterol levels
> haven't been checked in a while, but I am currently awaiting results
> which will be my 'baseline' for the coming year.
> It really irritates me that people make assumptions about things.  Bad
> liver-oh you must drink (I don't)..High triglycerides- you must eat a
> lot of fatty food (I don't)...when I got mono as a kid, there were
> people who called me a slut, even though I was the epitomy of
> homeliness. <g>  Grrr...  but I digress.  I appreciate your analysis, Wen.
>
> How have things been for you lately?  Still working?
>
> Wendy wrote:
> > Please take note that this "study" means nothing.
> >
> > > Those interviewed weren't asked if they'd ever had a bad reaction from
> > > taking those combinations. And the study didn't assess whether patients
> > > were taking medications inappropriately.
> >
> > The question asked was not whether anyone has had any complications from
> > interactions between drugs and nutritional supplements, but rather if 
> > they
> > took them together.  An even bigger question is, Why can't the 
> > prescription
> > drugs be dropped if a nutritional supplement will work just as well?" 
> > Also,
> > Bob, be very cautious when taking statins or any other cholesterol 
> > lowering
> > drugs.  Cholesterol is not your enemy.  Your body produces cholesterol 
> > when
> > it needs it.  Cell walls are almost pure cholesterol.  Different forms of
> > cholesterol are used for different things. LDLs are your bodies "patch"
> > material.  If your LDLs are high, you have damage that your body is 
> > patching
> > until it can properly heal.  HDLs are the "old bandages" being sent back 
> > to
> > the liver to be reformed into another type of cholesterol.  Tryglycerides
> > are the form of cholesterol that is used when transporting or storing
> > cholesterol.  If your LDLs are high and your HDLs are low, that means 
> > that
> > your cells are deteriorating and not being repaired.  If your HDLs are 
> > high
> > and your LDLs are low, that means that there is little new damage and 
> > what
> > was there is healing fine.  Statins and other cholesterol lowering drugs,
> > inhibit your body's ability to synthesize cholesterol.  It is like 
> > shooting
> > the messenger.  It doesn't "cure" or "fix" anything and may inhibit your
> > ability to heal.  There are certain cases where cholesterol lowering 
> > drugs
> > are called for.  For example, certain thyroid disorders cause the thyroid 
> > to
> > erroneously call for massive amounts of tryglycerides.  Tryglyceride 
> > counts
> > can be in excess of 1000, over thicken the blood and cause blockages and
> > interfere with the oxygen/CO2 exchange in the lungs.  Bad news. 
> > Cholesterol
> > lowering drugs are needed here since the blood cholesterol levels are 
> > being
> > elevated in error.  However, under normal conditions, cholesterol counts
> > only give an indicator of what else is going on in your body. 
> > Manipulating
> > them does not correct the condition that caused the concern.  Prescribing
> > cholesterol lowering drugs is like giving a child the test answers, then
> > proclaiming that the child is learning when he passes the test.  (Note: 
> > this
> > analogy was not meant to be a call to anyone to go off on a rant of our
> > pathetic public school system. ;-) )
> >
> > Wendy
>
>
> --
> "The world is my country, all mankind are my
>  brethren, and to do good is my religion."
>  Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)
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