High Cholesterol Support Group
High cholesterol is the presence of high levels of cholesterol in the blood. It is not a disease but a metabolic derangement that can be secondary to many diseases and can contribute to many forms of disease, most notably cardiovascular disease. If you have high cholesterol, join the community to find support and share your experience.
Every medication has a risks and rewards.
For many drugs the reward is recognized almost immediately. If you have a headache and take a pain reliever, most will experience the reward within 30 minutes.
If you have heartburn and take an antacid, confirmation of receiving a benefit is usually very fast as the stomach acid settles quickly.
If you are about to have surgery and the doctor is about to put you to sleep, you have proof of the drugs immediate reward of sleeping thru the surgery.
I can personally testify when in great pain, morphine gave instant relief. I had confirmation of reward.
The real reason people take statins is not just to lower cholesterol. The motive behind it all is the reward of preventing a heart attack or stroke, and presumably living longer for it. Preventing a cardiac event and thus living longer is the supposed endpoint reward of statins.
But here is the twist. How can anyone demonstrate having received such a reward?
I can elect to take a statin for the next 30 years, and I have no way of demonstrating it prevented a heart attack or caused me to live one day longer. I have ZERO verification of benefit received.
Neither do any of the other 50 million people taking statins have verification the drug prevented a cardiac event in themselves or caused them to live one day longer. A number that's impossible to know.
All we as patients have is the word of the seller these pills reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes. All we have is the drug company's word from their own sponsored studies telling us how great their product is.
We are effectively placing our faith in the seller of this product since we have no way to confirm this benefit in ourselves.
Lets listen in on this conversation:
"Hi Bill, glad you could make it to the party, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing great Steve. I would have suffered a massive heart attack last summer, but my statin kicked in and nothing happened. Boy was I relieved!"
" I know what you mean Bill. I was destined to die three years ago on 2-18-12, but thanks to my statin I'm living longer. By the way, how are the wife and kids?"
Its beyond ridiculous isn't it? But we do buy the product based strictly on the seller's claims, with no way to confirm ever receiving such a benefit.
For many drugs the reward is recognized almost immediately. If you have a headache and take a pain reliever, most will experience the reward within 30 minutes.
If you have heartburn and take an antacid, confirmation of receiving a benefit is usually very fast as the stomach acid settles quickly.
If you are about to have surgery and the doctor is about to put you to sleep, you have proof of the drugs immediate reward of sleeping thru the surgery.
I can personally testify when in great pain, morphine gave instant relief. I had confirmation of reward.
The real reason people take statins is not just to lower cholesterol. The motive behind it all is the reward of preventing a heart attack or stroke, and presumably living longer for it. Preventing a cardiac event and thus living longer is the supposed endpoint reward of statins.
But here is the twist. How can anyone demonstrate having received such a reward?
I can elect to take a statin for the next 30 years, and I have no way of demonstrating it prevented a heart attack or caused me to live one day longer. I have ZERO verification of benefit received.
Neither do any of the other 50 million people taking statins have verification the drug prevented a cardiac event in themselves or caused them to live one day longer. A number that's impossible to know.
All we as patients have is the word of the seller these pills reduce risk of heart attacks and strokes. All we have is the drug company's word from their own sponsored studies telling us how great their product is.
We are effectively placing our faith in the seller of this product since we have no way to confirm this benefit in ourselves.
Lets listen in on this conversation:
"Hi Bill, glad you could make it to the party, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing great Steve. I would have suffered a massive heart attack last summer, but my statin kicked in and nothing happened. Boy was I relieved!"
" I know what you mean Bill. I was destined to die three years ago on 2-18-12, but thanks to my statin I'm living longer. By the way, how are the wife and kids?"
Its beyond ridiculous isn't it? But we do buy the product based strictly on the seller's claims, with no way to confirm ever receiving such a benefit.
Great essay, so true and sad. No way to prove a negative, but the medical industry have made a fortune trying to do just that with statins. I guess that there are rewards for some......, but nothing but pain and dollars spent for many of the rest of us.
The "no confirmation of benefit" is something that almost never comes up in statin discussions.
This was brought to my attention about 12 years ago when someone on the net mentioned its impossible to prove a would-be heart attack was avoided because of taking a statin.
They made an interesting point, but it took a few years before the harsh reality of this soaked in. Likewise, when others read my posting, it may take some time before the rude awakening hits.
The "ZERO confirmation of benefit" issue is one that needs to be discussed more on the internet. I can tell you right now it drives statin advocates crazy because its a "direct hit" exposing a major flaw to statins they would prefer not be discussed. It threatens their market.
"Can you tell me when I will have confirmation this drug has prevented a heart attack, and how do I establish verification I have lived longer for it?"
Silence.
I am taking the statins for inflammation. Nothing else. On a higher dose I get muscle cramps.
What is your opinion of this? I never thought I would take the statins
but all my blood work was getting worse. Not just the chol.
I get bloodwork done in April.
First, I am very sorry to learn about your son passing.
If inflammation is the primary concern, there are ways of dealing with it without drugs, but I am not sure what steps you may have already taken.
If all your bloodwork is getting worse, then that suggests to me an underlying problem impacting everything. Genetics perhaps as we can't chose our parents. All we can do is control our lifestyle, where we live, and our environment to some degree.
1. Get rid of all air fresheners in home and in car.
2. Ditch scented candles ASAP.
3. Kiss perfume and cologne goodbye.
4. Change laundry detergent to free and clear.
5. Ditch fabric softeners and dryer sheets.
6. Avoid second hand smoke.
7. Avoid exhaust from BBQ grills and campfires.
8. Avoid nail polish and nail polish remover.
9. Avoid hair salons.
10. Clear out harsh cleansers from under the kitchen sink and laundry room and store them in the garage or shed outside the house.
Above are just 10 things we can do to help curb inflammation and it doesn't cost a dime. There is more.
Some may find the "hair salon" as silly, but an inflammation study of salon professionals measured CRP, an inflammatory marker before they reported to work and again after an 8 hour shift. There was notable increase in CRP at the end of their shifts.
I hope what I have shared will impact someone and change their life for the better.
That's why I thought I would try a low dose statin.
Since I moved I have done all of your suggestions. We will see what
happens at my next blood letting. It may take more time. I've only been here 3 months. I know my LPa will never go lower so I am working on the rest of the blood tests. I really miss the beauty salon though LOL but for now just a hair cut will do.
It's a hard thing to prove that statins really reduce HA risk for every patient, but I'm reminded of the saying, "Better to be safe than sorry".
Think it's even more of a toss up with statin drugs working when a person is in otherwise, perfect health, but has very high cholesterol due to genetics.
People who acquire high cholesterol from bad habits that don't want to change their lifestyle, then yes, statins are a good drug for them. But those stats on those who still have HA while on meds are skewed bc those types of people have a whole slew of other issues that can factor into a health risk besides cholesterol.
We need more data!
Thanks for your comment and interaction.
Unfortunately cholesterol levels are a very poor indicator of risk. Half of all heart attacks happen to people with low cholesterol, and 70% of first time heart attacks happen to people with LDL "Bad" cholesterol in target range.
In sales perception is everything. As long as consumers perceive lower cholesterol levels correlate with reduced heart attacks, that's all they need to believe they are receiving this benefit. its an assumption. There is still no verification a heart attack has been prevented, and there never will be.