Anyone managed to lower their cholesterol?

Jalapeno · February 2018

bluechargeboy said:

Shitty margarine with plant sterols in it is still shitty margarine and will still cause inflammation.

(not a doctor but well-read on the subject, feel free to ignore)

Thanks I will, I'll take my doctor's advice over yours.

bluechargeboy · February 2018

Jalapeno said:

bluechargeboy said:

Shitty margarine with plant sterols in it is still shitty margarine and will still cause inflammation.

(not a doctor but well-read on the subject, feel free to ignore)

Thanks I will, I'll take my doctor's advice over yours.

I'm sure your doctor would agree that high cholesterol is your body defending itself against the effects of your lifestyle. It is a symptom, not a root cause. If you just take steps to "get the number down" all you are doing is managing symptoms instead of fixing the problem.

(feel free to ignore this too)

west · February 2018

Cholesterol is an essential fat manufactured by the liver. It is a basic building block of every cell – especially for hormones and the nervous system. Our brains are 70% cholesterol and cholesterol can be found in every cell membrane.

Our body views cholesterol as so vital to our health, that when we avoid foods containing cholesterol, our body will compensate by making more cholesterol on its own. So, that begs the question: If cholesterol is so bad for us, why does our body make it and why does every cell in our body require it ....

west · February 2018

woops grass fed butter fingers ... if you really care about this stuff read Dr malcolm Kendrick, see what he has been fighting for and against for a long time https://drmalcolmkendrick.org/2015/05/18/hats-off-to-the-japanese/

or keep eating the plastic ....

Emp_Fab · February 2018

My cholesterol used to be close to 8 before my heart attack, now it's 4.3. Statins did that.

Why is everyone freaking out about statins ? Peer-reviewed independent double-blind test data please.... citing a scare story in a tabloid doesn't count !

west · February 2018

Emp i think you'll have to do your own research and make your own mind up , watch your coQ10 levels ( depleted by age and reduced by statins even more ) and keep an eye on your potential for type 2 ( statin related ) here is a short version of statin nation for your delectation ....

west · February 2018

axisus · February 2018

Emp_Fab said:

My cholesterol used to be close to 8 before my heart attack, now it's 4.3. Statins did that.

Why is everyone freaking out about statins ? Peer-reviewed independent double-blind test data please.... citing a scare story in a tabloid doesn't count !

I'm afraid I only have anecdotal stories, but they can have unpleasant side effect, I know someone who has had unpleasantly achy bones from them. The guy at work that I mention in the first post told me that your body becomes dependent on them, so you can't come off of them once you have got going. Personally I didn't like the sound of that.

Chalky · February 2018

axisus said:

Emp_Fab said:

My cholesterol used to be close to 8 before my heart attack, now it's 4.3. Statins did that.

Why is everyone freaking out about statins ? Peer-reviewed independent double-blind test data please.... citing a scare story in a tabloid doesn't count !

I'm afraid I only have anecdotal stories, but they can have unpleasant side effect, I know someone who has had unpleasantly achy bones from them. The guy at work that I mention in the first post told me that your body becomes dependent on them, so you can't come off of them once you have got going. Personally I didn't like the sound of that.

In the Uni studies carried out on my Dad, he took various drugs to address his cholesterol and the side effects were sometimes slight and sometimes horrific - one of them made any water on his skin feel like it was scalding him.

The truth is that statins can benefit a large percentage of people. But large percentage does not mean everyone! If your job is to improve the health of millions, that's great. If you are not one of the large percentage then it is not great.

It is the fundamental flaw in conducting health management by statistics. Most population benefit at least-cost sounds good. But If you are an individual in the minority percentage for whom the protocol doesn't work, tough.

Jalapeno · February 2018

bluechargeboy said:

Jalapeno said:

bluechargeboy said:

Shitty margarine with plant sterols in it is still shitty margarine and will still cause inflammation.

(not a doctor but well-read on the subject, feel free to ignore)

Thanks I will, I'll take my doctor's advice over yours.

I'm sure your doctor would agree that high cholesterol is your body defending itself against the effects of your lifestyle. It is a symptom, not a root cause. If you just take steps to "get the number down" all you are doing is managing symptoms instead of fixing the problem.

(feel free to ignore this too)

No that's good advice.

Anecdote: I was plodding along with managed pre-Type 2 diabetes, for quite a few years, and I was stable. Dr's quota meant they more or less forced me on to a statins programme - result - full blown diabetes immediately (and I had crippling muscle pain side effects - that are apparently common too).

west · February 2018

sorry to hear jal , its very common all those side effects for very little benefit , on dr kendricks site he showed how to work a studies stats out mathmatically and statins had no effect on all cause mortality , but you may live 4/5 days longer if you were lucky ....

my anecdote of my postman mate , he ate all the shit drank all the pop and sweets , he was not short of exercise as he walks 10 /14 miles a day carrying heavy bag ... becomes type 2 put on metformin ,the usual . so i helped him pointed him in the right direction got him keto lost 3 stone in 3/4 months off the metformin , all good doc happy .. a year later he couldnt hack being long term low carb reverts to type puts all the weight back on, back on metformin ... heart attack stent ... and know the stent is failing as they often do ...

hywelg · February 2018

Twice I went to the Dr's regarding my hypertension prior to starting at the gym, both times it was a locum, so not toeing the practise line, and I said I wanted to avoid statins and both said 'yes I wouldn't take them either'. Good enough for me...

strtdv · February 2018

Whether you benefit from a statin depends on your risk of having a heart attack or stroke, which your cholesterol contributes to but is by no means the only player.

If you don't have heart disease and haven't had a stroke before then it's a risk/benefit thing. There's probably no mortality benefit (though that's a little controversial), for every 60 people on the statin you'll prevent 1 non-fatal heart attack, and for every 250 or so you'll prevent one stroke. On the converse of this for every 10 people, one will stop taking the drug because of muscle aches, between 1 in 50 and 1 in 200 will develop type 2 diabetes, and one in 2000 will have a haemorrhagic stroke.
If you're very low risk for heart disease then the benefits are even smaller than that.

If you have heart disease or previous stroke/TIA the benefits hugely outweigh the risks, and within 1 year of starting treatment there is a mortality benefit (ie you're less likely to die if you're on the statin), and similarly if you are at high risk of heart disease (there are various validated scores that your doctor can work out) then you're more likely to benefit

In Scotland the guidance is that if you have a greater than 20% chance of heart disease in the next 10 years (which is most Scottish people over the age of 60) you should be on a statin.

strtdv · February 2018

As an aside, grapefruit juice can give a modest reduction in cholesterol, but it's an enzyme inducer so you shouldn't take it if you're on a statin

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Anyone managed to lower their cholesterol?

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