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Cholesterol
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Hi Folks ...my turn for some assistance and advice!
Recent bloods showed my cholesterol at 6.9 and my specialist has now written to my GP to ask them to perform fasting bloods and more tests to see if I need to go on Statins ...BUT I have read quite a bit about the adverse side effects and moreover their possible increase in long term fatality totally unrelated to heart disease. I mean even to the extent that cholesterol isn't even the real cause for coronary disease. I've always been very active physically, my blood pressure is perfect and there's no history of heart disease in my family at all. In fact we don't even have a deep fat fryer in our house and seldomly eat fried foods. I don't smoke but must admit to drinking too much abeit it's not hard liquer but more so the wine and a few beers most nights. What's the consensus folks ...do I go for the statins or live the rest of my life with just the odd indulgence? My analysis so far leads me to think that statins are more of a calculated aid to reduce the medical burden on the state in the short term. I already have a weak immune function and to add to this they want me to inhibit Q10 which is the cornerstone of every living cell ...OR did I missunderstand something here? Posted on 11/03/09, 10:11 am |
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My cholesterol was a little high (not quite as high as yours) my last appointment and my doctor has told me to take 2 x 1000mg fish oil every day, and 500mg niacin. I read up on the statins and since you have no history of heart disease I, myself would be leary of getting on them, since it appears it is yet another "take the rest of your life" drug. But listen to your doctor, he/she knows what's best for you. 
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TY Tim I'm grateful of any advice or thoughts on this. I'll listen to my doc but she'll have to convince me there's a high risk before I go down the road of another drug for life. In fact I'm going to ring my clinician tomorrow and request all my blood data to date. I want to see what my cholesterol levels were at the outset of HAART along with all the other findings so that I myself can watch for any sign of problems.
The natural route sounds a much more palatable first line of action given no family history and good health in general.
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Honestly I forgot to add I usually drink about as much as you do. I quit smoking 7 years ago, after I hit the 30 year mark.
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I have no idea what type of scale would give you a cholesterol reading of 6.9. Normally, the results give numbers around 200:
http://www.americanheart.org/prese... and you really need to consider not just total cholesterol but also the ratios of LDL to HDL and triglycerides. You should also consider other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, level of fitness and cardiovascular excercise, etc before deciding what to do. You should also consider the cost of the drugs, spending $300 a year or more on a drug may or may not make sense for you. Especially if the cost of the drug has to be weighed against the cost of a gym membership. Fitness and exercise can't fix everything, there are cases of moderate to very high cholesterol that undoubtedly should be treated with drugs. But diet and exercise can push borderline high cases into the safe range.
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