@ucbalumnus Thanks! Yes, that explains it. Triglycerides did increase a little, but were still well within the normal range so I didn’t really pay attention to it. I wasn’t aware it played a part in LDL calculations. Now I can check off the “learned something new every day” box.
Someone locally asked me the time frame. Blood results have been in Jan and Sept, so 4 months from the last one and another 8 months for the one before that. It works off a school/community schedule. Ginger was only added in the past month or so. Milk thistle was added prior to Sept’s numbers, but I don’t recall exactly how much before that one. The healthy diet and general daily activity isn’t new at all (goes back to my college days), but have been tweaked to be a little better (less meat being the main thing, but added a few more nuts) except the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Google searching hasn’t led me to a reliable source of ginger capsules without paying to subscribe to consumer labs, so I’ll probably just add my own from natural root.
No other meds are part of my life on a regular basis - no vitamins or prescriptions or supplements. Just the milk thistle and now ginger. We do try to add turmeric regularly via cooking though. Ibuprofen is also handy for various headaches I get - esp if I let my salt levels get low, but lately I’ve gotten a better handle on keeping that balance in check so that’s becoming more rare.
I’m still not opposed to adding statins in general, but only the Ca score and cholesterol levels are high. Nothing seems to help the Ca score (arterial Ca @ 175). If ginger can bring down the cholesterol levels without the brain fog, it’s the direction I want to take. If Sept proves that didn’t happen, I’ll reevaluate. My main concern with statins other than the brain fog it seemed to bring on is being pre-diabetic with Type II diabetes literally everywhere in my family line - no one else is exempt except one aunt who smokes and has stayed thin. I’ve staved that off so far via diet (or luck, but I credit diet) and would rather not have a medicine messing that up if there are alternatives.