I have had high cholesterol since I was 16. I am not overweight. I workout 3 times a week as well as walk most days. I eat mostly high fiber meals with chicken and rarely eat out and my cholesterol is still high. My doctor keeps trying to give me cholesterol medication, which I do not want to take. I feel that naturally I have high cholesterol and that the side effects of the medication it worse then the possible heart attack I might have because of high cholesterol. Does anyone else feel like statins are really being overly pushed on us?
They are most definitely being pushed inappropriately.
What are your HDL and triglycerides like? These are more significant in predicting health than is LDL alone. If you have very high HDL (60+) and very low triglycerides (under 100), your health profile and heart attack risk is fine.
More details on this here: http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes/15945839.php
If you have very high LDL along with high triglycerides and low HDL, it’s another story, but many people can correct that by cutting carbs.
Lowering LDL with statins does not improve either triglycerides or HDL.
What is the cardiac history of the rest of your family?
My dad lived to be 100 and only retired from his profession at 92. His cholesterol was 340 at age 70. Mine is very high too, but it turns out both of us have a “longevity gene” form of LDL which makes for huge, very healthy LDL molecules. We were in a study that discovered it.
Yes, they are overly pushed, especially on people with risk factors like Diabetes. Two of my Doctors (GP and Endo) have repeatedly suggested I go on statins simply because my LDL is hovering around 105 (a mere 5 points over the recommended target for Diabetics), which is still 25 points below what’s considered healthy for a non-Diabetic. I told them I’m not interested in going on statins. The long-term complications (I figure I’ve got another 35 years of life) are, IMO, more of a risk than my current cholesterol level.
I have added some food to my diet in an effort to naturally lower the LDL a few points, but that’s all I plan to do for now.
I was in the same situation with the Cholesterol it was around 105. I started taking Zocor (or something like that) and the last time I had it checked it was down to 86. I don’t really want to be on more medication but all my numbers are in line so I can’t complain. I eat fairly healthy foods, exercise and lead an active life.
I don’t know anything about statin-pushing, but I managed to drop my LDL levels about 30 points by changing my diet. I cut out about 90% of the saturated animal fats (mostly it came from eggs and butter) and started eating lots of nuts. My CDE had mentioned that they could lower the LDL, so I tried it. I went from mid-90’s to 63. My HDL stayed steady in the mid-70’s but I think my triglycerides went up. I guess I should start working on those now. You might want to try adding certain foods to your diet to lower the LDL. Don’t know why it works, but it worked wonders for me.