The Heart of the Matter

Fine — but here’s the real news. Instead of a statin, Rader said I could try lowering my LDL with phytosterol, the plant-derived supplement. He assured me that rigorous studies have demonstrated that phytosterol blocks absorption of cholesterol in the intestine. You pop one pill — I ordered 100 for $20 from Endur.com — before each meal, and its contents rapidly attach to tiny intestinal molecules called “micelles.” Once the micelles are full of phytosterol, they can’t take on much real cholesterol, so when you chow down, a lot of the bad stuff glides through your digestive tract and never reaches the arteries. Later, the body excretes the phytosterol — it’s that simple. Even the NIH approves of these plant-derived products. If you end up needing a statin, the two can be taken concurrently to potentially reduce the dosage.

After four months on a regimen of one pill before meals, my LDL was down from 157 to an acceptable 116. No meds. No side effects. This is one of those rare instances where something that sounds too good to be true actually is.

Rader estimates that of the 40 million Americans with high LDL levels, 20 percent might profit from taking phytosterols. “That,” he points out, “is not a trivial number.”

Preventing Plaque Attacks: Many people with low cholesterol still show significant plaque buildup in their coronary arteries. My husband, whose total cholesterol registers an ideal 156, discovered this after a test called a HeartCam, a brief CT scan of the coronary arteries that measures that buildup. His doctor put him on a statin — not to reduce his cholesterol, but to keep plaque glued to his artery walls, where it won’t break away and become a floating time bomb. Rader often recommends the HeartCam to patients with low cholesterol who have a family history of heart disease. The scan is available at Presbyterian Medical Center; unfortunately, insurance won’t cover the $395 cost. — C.S.