\r\n \r\n There\'s no set level that determines if they need statins or not, as far as I\'m concerned. You have to always consider other risk factors, like hypertension, previous myocardial infarction/stroke, diabetes, smoking. Mildly elevated cholesterol doesn\'t necessarily require statins if there are no other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. But on the other hand, if there is high cardiovascular risk or known cardiovascular disease, I might even give statins to patients where the cholesterol is not above the limit.This is because in addition to the cholesterol lowering property of statins, they also stabilize the vascular wall, giving benefit to patients without high cholesterol.
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\nI should add that whoever I prescribe statins I\'ll also follow up regularly with blood tests checking liver enzymes and CK (for rhabdomyolysis).\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Thanks. From what I have read, all statins (especially lipitor) have horrible side effects (I have seen this people also). I am curious, do you see (in actuality) a reduction in heart attacks with patients on those drugs?\r\n

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\r\n \r\n I haven\'t worked anywhere near long enough to see any clear difference. This is measured in lifetime risks over populations, after all. It would have to have a drastic effect to be clearly visible like that, more effective than what I think it is. But the effect for secondary prevention is pretty clear: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/1....pub4/abstract
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\nWhich side effects are you referring to? The muscle pains?\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Muscle wasting, liver issues.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Statin followup is GP work, and I\'ve only worked as a GP now for a few months. So far I\'ve had patients complain about mild muscle aches, but I\'ve seen no liver problem or elevated CK so far (CK is a marker for muscle breakdown).\r\n

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\r\n \r\n As an aside, there really is no need to take statins. One problem is that once they are started, there is difficulty quitting. Claims are that cholesterol will just build up faster. Also, patients should be warned that CoQ10 is depleted by the use of statins.
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\nThe easiest way to clean plaque out of the arteries is with the fatty acid lecithin. Lecithin is a fat emulsifier. In other words the lecithin helps to dissolve the fats in the arterial plaque so these fats will not adhere to blood vessel walls, and will be flushed from the body. Magnesium helps reduce the risk of heart disease by helping to remove arterial plaque, and by lowering blood pressure. Magnesium helps to remove arterial plaque by displacing the calcium in the plaque. This softens the plaque and makes it easier for the body to remove the plaque. Magnesium lowers blood pressure by acting similar to a calcium channel blocker. By pushing calcium out of the nerve synapse, blood vessels relax lowering the blood pressure and increasing blood flow to the heart muscle allowing it to work more efficiently. Silica assists in preventing plaque formation in the arteries by strengthening blood vessel walls to prevent damage, and by acting as a mild anti-inflammatory. Tissue levels of silica decline as we age due to decreases in stomach acid. Of course my current choices are the enzymes serrapeptase and nattokinase.\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n -
\n- Jim
\nLife is just one damned thing after another - Elbert Hubbard
\n
\n\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Here we go again.
\n
\nCholesterol is not the enemy, but that is something you will never understand.
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\nDid you know that most animals have high cholesterol but don\'t get heart attacks?
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\nDid you ever wonder why the cholesterol upper limit has been lowered several times in the last 20 years? I\'ll give you a hint... more patients = more scripts = more $$$ for your bosses.\r\n

\r\n __________________
\r\n Let Food Be Your Medicine And Medicine Be Your Food.(Hippocrates)\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Drack; pinballdoctor is correct on this. They keep lowering the cholesterol upper limit. SUPPOSEDLY, statins also work by reducing arterial inflamation, but fish oil does it better. Also, there is some drug (can not think of the name) where they take fish oil and esterify it and it is a very very expensive drug. It does not work as well as fish oil.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n This is from the Seattle Times, June 26-30, 2005
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\nhttps://seattletimes.nwsource.com/new...nitions26.html
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\nI can\'t copy and paste the charts so I copied the info for cholesterol.
\n
\nChange a number, create a patient
\n
\nThe number of people with at least one of four major medical conditions has increased dramatically in the past decade because of changes in the definitions of disease. "The new definitions ultimately label 75 percent of the adult U.S. population as diseased," according to calculations by two Dartmouth Medical School researchers.
\n
\nHigh Cholesterol
\n
\nOld Definition
\n= or > 240
\n
\nNew Definition
\n= or > 200
\n
\nPeople under the old definition: 49.5 million
\nPeople added under the new definition: 42.6 million
\n
\nPercent increase: 86%\r\n

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\r\n \r\n I am suspicious of the increasing tendency to prescribe drugs to people who are not diagnosed with any disease.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n I am very suspicious of a drug that lowers cholesterol but not heart disease.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n I\'m pretty sure I linked a study review in that other thread that showed how statins are beneficial as secondary prevention. And that cholesterol is not alpha and omega was kind of my point, it\'s also about the antiinflammatory effect. Omega 3 does this, of course, and I\'d recommend that to everyone, heart disease or not. But one does not exclude the other.
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\nOh and speaking of omega-3, I think one should ditch the oil or especially the capsules and eat real fish instead. Just keep an eye on what kind of fish you eat so you don\'t fill up on mercury.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Salmon is low in mercury, but tuna is loaded. They have had cases here of people who ate canned tuna daily and had mild mercury poisoning.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Drack,
\n
\nHeart attacks are caused when the arteries are hardened by oxidation, not the amount of cholestrol a person has, correct?
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\nThis would explain why the studies done in the 40\'s on saturated fats included (but excluded it in the official report), several populations of people who ate super super high amounts of saturated fats and cholesterol but had very little heart disease. Because little oxidation was occurring.\r\n

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\r\n \r\n Correct. At least one of the situations that cause heart problems.
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\nIt is the liver that produces cholesterol, so helping the liver to remain healthy is a very good thing to do. Digestive bitters can help this process. They will gently flush the liver.
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\nAnyway, I am not convinced that eating cholesterol will cause us to have more. That should be digested.\r\n

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