tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3045634714760830992.post4612572895906214561..comments2023-06-05T11:51:38.383-04:00Comments on Evolutionary Psychiatry: D-D-DepressionAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04429177284200775781noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3045634714760830992.post-91203495007519572162010-07-15T17:04:02.467-04:002010-07-15T17:04:02.467-04:00As to the cholesterol post, I can certainly throw ...As to the cholesterol post, I can certainly throw some stuff up there, but my views on cholesterol are rather shockingly unconventional, so I'm not sure how helpful they will be to the general public. I believe certain kinds of elevated cholesterol are a sign of inflammation, and it is useless and perhaps dangerous to treat a number when we ought to be honing in on the cause of the inflammation. Checking everyone's cholesterol all the time has enriched the pharmaceutical industry, but has it decreased heart disease?? That is a billion dollar question.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04429177284200775781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3045634714760830992.post-43734282004392483972010-07-15T16:53:04.985-04:002010-07-15T16:53:04.985-04:00Laura - To be honest I'm of mixed opinions abo...Laura - To be honest I'm of mixed opinions about lab testing in general. For most people, the labs don't matter if you recommend the same healthy interventions no matter what the lab test says... vitamin D may be the exception, as we are simply not out in the sun as we used to be, and we are supposed to make vitamin D in our skin, and oral D3 is the same thing as what is made in our skin once the liver is utilized to metabolize the whole thing. The closer we live to the poles, the more important it is to test - grassroots health recommends supplementing with 2000 IU for three months, then testing. They don't have a test for calcium, though, just the (25) OH vit D3. And, unfortunately, your doc may not know much about vit D at all. I've seen docs order the 1,25 (OH) vit D test which is completely useless. Fortunately the labs usually throws in the 25 (OH) vitamin D tests to save us from ourselves.... <br /><br />So far as the DVTs, I can't give personal advice, but obesity is definitely associated with increased risk of DVT (I don't have a reference for that - I figured it was common knowledge among doctors), and I'm going by the basic biochemistry to suggest that O6/03 ratios are important for clotting, as 06 is a precursor for thromboxane (aspirin works by inhibiting the production of thromboxane), among many other inflammatory things (wikipedia always has embarrassingly good articles about sciencey stuff - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eicosanoid).<br /><br />So far as anti-cardiolipin antibodies, you are right, I don't know much. It sets off my "autoimmune" flag, which sets off my "crazy out of whack inflammation and why the heck would that be happening" flag - which always brings me around to weird antigens causing systemic problems (the most obvious sources would be dietary or infectious), and fired up immune system (could happen from infection or perception of attack - i.e. antigens or stress reaction). Did find this interesting article linking inflammatory bowel disease and anticardiolipin antibodies - http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/95/4/253-aAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04429177284200775781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3045634714760830992.post-22386645074453229302010-07-15T09:21:08.654-04:002010-07-15T09:21:08.654-04:00Interesting stuff...I need to read through again t...Interesting stuff...I need to read through again to digest all of that info. Do you recommend the average person have their vit D levels tested? Or is it safe to assume that most people are deficient to a certain level? <br /><br />I wish I could get my DVT specialist to read some of these posts - I asked her about food/weight affecting DVT risks and more specifically about Omega 3-6 ratios and she just gave me this blank stare... Guess that answered my question about her knowledge of that. I know Drs are very busy and such...but it was a bit disappointing. <br /><br />Can an out-of-whack O6-O3 balance cause elevated anti-cardio lipins??? (not your specialty...I know...) I wish I knew more about blood and arteries and how those things worked a bit better. <br /><br />I have a request for a post if you run out of things to write about. :-) Cholesterol - what all of the levels mean; what the healthy ranges are, etc. I'm sure I could google it, but you do such a great job of explaining things for the non-doctor that I thought I would ask.Laurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01736592362765508427noreply@blogger.com