My progress report for Metabolic Markers

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #1

Hi all,

I’m pretty excited. My stall has been strongly broken and I’m now accelerating my weight loss. My sleep is not perfect but better and my BP is coming down finally. Not yet where I will go off meds but that is in sight.

I have been focused on reducing insulin. So time-restricted feeding, IF, EF.

Next week I have my annual physical and my last meeting with my current cardiologist. He is retiring. Briefly, I have been keto-ish for almost 4 years and strict keto since mid-June '18.

You will see my biomarkers improved when I started keto lite but then I sled. Since June been pretty tight on <20g carbs.

Recent progress has been the result of a combination of 1 EF (36 to 54hr)/week and lots of IF 18/6.

Last 3 weeks I have lost more than 2 lbs a week and I’m at my lowest weight since about 15 years ago 214lbs. (BTW I’m 65yo). In late '14 I weighed 259 and about 2002 I probably weighed close to 300lbs. I did have 4-bypass 17 years ago at 48yo when I was at my biggest.

Been stress tested with nuclear imaging in June '18 and told that I have no blockage. This was a treadmill test with me pumping 10mets. Yes, I understand those results are not perfect predictors. But the cardiologist commented on the quality of my EKG and stress test images.

I’ve lost 5" around the largest portion of my belly since the middle of July. Pant sizes reduced from 44" to 40".

So now for some of the markers. Not shown is CBC which is all good and usually is good. I’m reporting the ones I think are most significant.

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In June a sonogram indicated I had some NAFLD and I’m pretty positive my AST and ALT show signs of fatty liver improvement.

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I’m especially happy with FBG, AST, ALT and Tri/HDL ratio.

Not sure why my doctor ordered this test but the results look good:

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For the record, I am on a statin. I’m still not sure what to do about that.

My energy is great, brain function good (I’m a software developer and I operate many hundreds of web sites with a total staff of 3 of us). I exercise 5 times a week and have gained lean muscle mass since June '18.

I’m in this as a Way of Life (WOL) and am patient to get my weight to 180lbs or so. I want to get off 2 of my 3 BP meds and if I can get off of all 3 that would be fantastic.

I am very grateful for all of you and the wisdom of this crowd. I listen to tons of podcasts and thankful for the usual cast of characters. The fasting movie got me pointed towards time-restricted feeding/IF and the Obesity Code and some of you got me committed to a lifetime of extended fasts. Current EF goals are mostly weight loss and insulin control for reduced BP. Longer term autophagy will be my goal.

Thank you so much for all of you being here for the slowly aging geek.

Oh, My oldest daughter and wife support me on this journey and my daughter is very strict keto and my wife is easing into keto.

Thanks again all. With :heart::pray: to all of you on your journey.

#2

Thanks for sharing that information. Good to see data, it’s better still to see it all moving in the right direction :slight_smile:

If only we did this 20 years ago…

Actually a collegue was on Atkins but he described it as “eat all the bacon and eggs including all the juicy fat you can eat”. Sadly that description turned me away for 20 years.

Anyway, well done and thanks again.

(Carl Keller) #3

Awesome progress report Eric! I look forward to seeing more improvement in the next one. The day when you no longer need the meds is getting closer. :wink:

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #4

Just stood up and felt light headed. Measured BP and it was 118/74. Getting closer. Yes.

#5

@daddyoh. Great report. Thanks. You and I are similar in many respects — age, build, weight, heart history, etc.

Regarding the statins. I had a heart attack 15 years ago (I’m 68) and was on various statins ever since and probably before then I’m sure.

My cardiologist liked me on them because of their anti inflammatory benefits. But after consulting a neurologist about some mild neuropathy in my feet, I learned that statins contribute to all types of neurological disorders such as MS and ALS. Long term use of statins can also aggravate and may even cause neuropathy.

So on Dec. 1 I elected to quit taking my statins altogether. I’ve noticed no bad effects and my bloodwork showed I have low inflammation markers. My feet are slightly better as well. But the road back even from mild neuropathy is a long one.

Last week I saw my cardiologist and he agreed to keep me off my statins until my next blood tests later this summer. He liked those low inflammation markers and the low triglyceride.

He also took me off my antiarrhythmia meds and halted my aspirin and told me to cut my beta blocker in half while doing my EFs. Light headedness should improve.

Eric, even at our age and condition, it is great to learn that this WOL can pay dividends.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #6

@GentleBen Thanks for painting your picture. I’m guessing since my cardiologist is retiring he is going to say, let the new dr advise you. I don’t have neuropathy issues but am concerned about cognitive decline especially since I have a 3/4 apoe gene which increases my risk for AD.

(Bob M) #7

Here’s a discussion of a study about statins and ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease):

It’s epidemiological, but the relative odds ratios are insanely high.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #8

Thanks Bob.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Almost as high as the odds ratio Bradford-Hill used to implicate smoking as a cause of lung cancer.

(Eric - The patient needs to be patient!) #10

Thanks Paul,

At work so can’t read the study till tonight. That is my hook to stop statins.

(Bob M) #11

That is true, Paul.

For anyone not familiar with these concepts, here’s what Dr. Kendrick says about the metric (ROR, relative odds ratio):

An odds ratio, basically means increased (or decreased) risk of something happening relative to the standard risk of one. An odds ratio of two (2) means something is twice as likely to happen. An odds ratio of nine (9) means something is nine times as likely to happen. This can also be represented as 900% increase in risk.

See the risks here:

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The typical epi study say using food has relative risks usually less than 50%, which on this ROR scale is 0.5 (I believe, if my thinking is correct). These risks, by contrast, are anywhere from 9 to 107, which translate to relative risks between 809% and 10,600%. Take that and stuff it in your latest Harvard School of Epidemiology garbage study that garners hundreds of headlines. Seen the one about pushups and heart disease? Yet more garbage from Harvard:

Getting back to the point being discussed, I’ve seen various estimates of risk for smoking. This one has odds ratios around 100 for certain types of cancers:

So, that’s 10,000% increase in risk.

Hmmm…There’s something I’m missing about the math in the Kendrick article. He says 9 ROR = 900% but 9.09 ROR = 809%? Why not 909%? He seems to be subtracting 100 off of each risk, and I’m not sure why.

(Bob M) #12

It could be where the “zero” risk is. If it’s zero on the ROR scale, then you would not subtract a 1 ROR when calculating risk, I believe. If it’s one on the ROR scale, then you would subtract a 1 ROR when calculating risk. So, if you go from 1 to 2 on the ROR scale, you go from zero risk to 100% risk, which would make his calculations correct (though would mean his paragraph I quoted would be incorrect). Sometimes they like to start at 1, as if you go below 1, there’s a perceived benefit. (And if you start at zero, a benefit would have a negative number, which could be odd.)