I've been dealing with this a long time after DH had 7 By-passes in two different operation, full cardiac arrest & years of heart attacks until he got a heart transplant. Here are a few tips that have worked for me, (altho' sodium wasn't a problem for him.) He loves peas & beans which made it a lot easier. Transplant Dietician said he was allowed 60 gr. of fat per day but I try to keep it at 40 since even meds don't control his cholesterol well. It takes a while to shop 'cause yout must read labels! Bacon: I do give it to him once a week after rolling in paper towels, cooking in microwave- then pressing to lift grease. Eggs: Using only egg whites, lightly whipped then one drop of yellow food coloring swirled a bit before scrambling i non stick skillet. We're Southern & love the flavor of smoked hog jowls in greens, beans, etc., but I boil it, remove the meat & refrigerate it til' fat congeals so it lifts off...then just use the broth. Pot Roast & occasional baked Ham is done the same way. Buy only very lean ground meat & fat free broths for soups. I also buy Parkay Spray "Butter" 0 fat, calories & cholesterol, and the fat free salad dressings. Grocery shopping day is also cooking day (no need to put is all away, drag it out to cook a bunch of seperate meals.) First I build a fire in the grill then make beef patties. Then using more lean ground meat w/onions I brown it & as it browns I prepare chicken for baking. When beef is well done I put it in colander in the sink & pour boiling water of it & let it drain. Pour into paper towel lined bowl & press. When cool I put it in serving size freezer bags & flatten for quick thawing. Chopped onions are done the same way, so whatever amt is needed can be broken off easily. It can then be used for spaghetti, ect. (Sometimes we have Spaghetti Red (no meat) with lots of garlic & Italian spices.) Baked chicken breast (skin & fat removed) were so unappealing to him 'til I browned them first in skillet with non-stick spray. I buy large packs & cook them all at the same time for future use (saves on utility bills too.) 8 x 8" Pyrex dishes each get one so I can add different flavorings. One gets Frajita seasoning, one Italian, one Pace Picante. etc. While the chicken bakes I cook burgers (& sometimes Orange Roughy fish) on the grill- but not all the way thru. Cool & put each in a freezer bag- when ready to use a quick skillet warm up finishes the cooking process (we like ours well done.) I also make Stir Fry meals a lot. A little meat goes a long way when cut in small pcs. & it's a great way to use leftover meat. Soups are made with the fat free broths. Desserts are fat free puddings, jello w/ fruit. I also make this: Finely shredded cabbage in Lime jello, a layer of crushed canned pineapple, then layer of finely shredded carrots in Orange jello. AND, look for this *Banana Pops to make chocolate flavored bananas on a stick. It's by Concord Foods & only 5 gr. of fat. (www.concordfoods.com) By the bananas in our store. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions & Good luck! Suzi

no problem cheerful :) HDL can be tricky when youre trying to lower your cholesterol because often what happens is you try to cut out all fat and also proteins to lower your chol, but that can really drive your HDL down. that's a trap that I fell into and I think lots of other people do too. I was so frustrated trying to get my chol down and my HDL just went from very low to lower but when I started seeing a dietician I got some excellent advice, and my results really turned around. There is so much confusing advice out there, a lot of what I learned really surprised me because it was totally different to things I'd read. My husband has always eaten the same things as me and his cholesterol has always been near perfect, except his HDL dropped a bit too but has came back up after we started with the olive oil as well. My chol results are very good now except for the apoB one (which is an additional chol test that not all doctors check) and that's still up a bit, but once that comes down I'll be off the crestor (statin) medication.

First of all, are you talking about a hematocrit, hemoglobin count, or total red blood cell count? Those numbers could be either very scarry or almost normal, depending upon what you are talking about. What are the units? Depending upon the cause of the anemia, changing your diet may or may not have any effect. There are 3 general categories for causes of low RBC counts: destruction (usually an autoimmune, infectious, or cancer cause), blood loss (GI bleeding is the most common source), or reduced production, which can have many causes (cancer, kidney failure, or any missing "ingredient" in the RBC-producing pathway could all be causes). If your anemia is caused by an iron or vitamin B deficiency, then increasing your intake of those will help. But for most causes of anemia, changing your diet isn't going to help. You really need to see a doctor. Symptoms of anemia are related to lack of oxygen- dizziness, lack of stanima, weakness, inability to catch breath, etc. Please give us more information about what measurement you are using for your RBC count and any relavent health information (do you have kidney problems or cancer), etc.

Some medications are better absorbed with a meal, while others work best on an empty stomach. Not sure about a specific meal but your pharmacist can explain. I know he shouldn't take it with grapefruit juice as too much is released into the system. Not good. Your pharmacist should have given him a consultation when it is a new medication. I know it is a law here in CA. If your DH has any additional questions one of you can make a quick call. Lots of information on the web too. I'd check the manufacture's site. Wing---Mom to a PharmD