The news spot I saw gave two scenarios where the total cholesterol was over 200. They then went through a quick run down of each person's risks to determine if a statin would be helpful. In one it was and in the other not. Their point was that in the past, both would have been put on a statin.

That must not have been the new CNN piece. This doubled the numbers of those that should take statins, with 4 groups now in the criteria. All over 190 level is in the group to take it...along with 3 other risk groups.

My brothers & parents are on statins per their #, 1 bro did have some sort of minor heart episode a few years ago but he is very type A & high stress...
My mom thinks I should be on statins too, but she believes the standard hype and whatever the drs say...


I was on lipitor 2003-4, and then learned about the muscle soreness and various other not so good things statins can do..so stopped it. I think it contributed to my RSI/TOS work injury symptoms..(was in the same time frame..)
Last few times I had blood work - chol is 300+ and triglycerides 500 or so..
But my grandmother lived to be 96 and had no heart problems, but she did have Alzheimer's for the last 10 yrs of her life..
I often wonder if maybe the high cholesterol had something to do with that???

I have cut out most junk food, fast food, fried foods, desserts, upped use of olive oil, so I am curious to know if # have changed at all..
Might go get it checked one of these days just to see where I'm at..

my main nutritional vice is coffee w/ half n half & 2 spoons of sugar..

I read a few books that mentioned the triglyceride #'s may be more important related to overall health issues. It was years ago I don't even recall the titles or authors.. one may have been about inflammation and overall health.

Here is a new "wrinkle":

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread197087.html

New family of drugs threatened by the new cholesterol guidelines?

My doctors keep bringing it up and I just tell them I don't need any more muscle pains or another medication. As it is, now my cat is on 3 medications that I have to administer 3 times a day poor thing.

My doctor took me off statin drugs saying to take Red Yeast Rice since this is the natural product from which statins are made. Also check out Dr. Sinatra website he is a cardiologist that has good website and good products.
Statins make drug companies billions of dollars and they cause issues also

The "push" seems to be worldwide. My GP was complaining a month ago that "if I follow the new guidelines I literally have to put 90% of my patients on statins". She was looking at her new desk pad which was kindly provided by one of the major brands, and contained those "guidelines".

She was genuinely upset.

--this topic is going to come up at our Long Island Neuropathy Group support meeting tonight. And I'm probably going to be called on to explain the oxidation chemistry again, and provide some internet links --not that I think any of the patients really want to hear it, but the medical people who come sometimes do.

The fact, of course, that most of the medical people have no idea that statins should be looked at really carefully in those with neurological and muscular symptoms--I'm willing to say that they should be contraindicated in those with neuropathy and myopathy--is, of course, part of the problem.

Yes, this all smacks of Big Pharma trying to squeeze more money out of existing medications before other competing medications from rivals hit the market--and of those rivals trying to create a bigger market for those new medications coming down the line. I'm not as familiar with the chemistry of some of these newer proposed injectable cholesterol meds, so I suppose I should be doing some research. But a number of them are based on niacin and fish-oil, which we have, of course, discussed for their cholesterol and triglyceride helping properties. (Big Pharma, of course, would like to make into prescription meds those things we can get over the counter.)

We've had a number of discussions on this and other boards that the more important numbers to watch for heart disease risk are triglyceride and C-reactive protein numbers. High cholesterol alone does not result in forming artery-narrowing "plugs"; it takes an injury and inflammation to the vessel wall to start the process of plaquing. I understand why high cholesterol numbers--especially low density numbers of certain levels (LDL) are found more disproportionately in those with coronary artery disease and circulatory disease, but such people have other factors in combination with the LDL numbers that result in adverse events, and while some doctors/researchers are aware of this, too many, and too many media sources, just oversimplify the discussion to "cholesterol=bad".

Is red rice yeast safe??

My Mom was told to take this and I know she does. I am just wondering if it really works, it's safe, and if any brand is ok to take since it's kinda like fish oil, a million different kinds.

--there aren't opposing views.

This was just posted in the New York Times editorial section today. The comments posted after the article are interesting as well:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/14/op...s-statins.html