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So husband had his annual physical, including blood tests. He is 67 and in pretty good health, not on any medications. His blood glucose results still put him in the pre-diabetic category, (A1C 5.8 and fasting glucose 107) but his numbers have improved quite a bit since the last test 6 months ago, due to improved diet and increased exercise.
His total cholesterol is 168, 48 HDL, 99 LDL, Triglycerides 103. LDL/HDL ratio is 2.07.
His BP is 117/70.
His doc, who is very thorough and careful, plugged all the numbers into a cardiovascular risk calculator and told him he has a 10.8%, 10 year risk of a cardiovascular event and she wants to put him on cholesterol meds to lower that risk. Considering the side effects of cholesterol meds and the fact that his cholesterol is not high at all, is it worth going on meds and risking all the side effects for a few points lowered risk? I could understand it if his cholesterol was very high, or he had very high triglycerides along with it, but his seems quite good because everyone we know who is on cholesterol meds has numbers well over 200 and other risk factors like high BP, high Triglycerides, extremely low HDl. I realize we may have to get a second opinion from another doc, but I am curious what health savvy forum members think about this.
A 10% chance? Turn this around and look at it another way. That's a 90% chance that he doesn't have a cardiac event. Probabilities, statistical trends, general awareness. Statistics are very useful but still can't say yea or nay. His doctor is telling him what test results she has gotten and provided her opinion. Maybe she tends to be very conservative and its possible she's weighing more than those specific test results in her recommendation. We do tend to be more than the sum of our parts. FWIW, if some GP had done all these baseline tests on me none of them would probably foresee that I'd have a heart attack...no obvious risk factors. That meant exactly nothing. I had a heart attack two weeks ago that wasn't due to any of them. Guess the lesson here it that nothing is guaranteed...you consider the information that's available and make your best call. Only you can do that. Sometimes, getting more "opinions" (I mean in addition to another MD you already trust) muddies the waters.
Last edited by Parnassia; 12-17-2019 at 02:39 PM..
Parnassia, I am so sorry to read this, but so glad you are okay. If I am not being too nosy, if you had no risk factors, what caused your heart attack?
Anyway, what you wrote is exactly what I thought. It seems to me the small risk reduction would not make up for the likely side effects.
Parnassia, I am so sorry to read this, but so glad you are okay. If I am not being too nosy, if you had no risk factors, what caused your heart attack?
Anyway, what you wrote is exactly what I thought. It seems to me the small risk reduction would not make up for the likely side effects.
Blood clot in a coronary artery. They are still testing to find out why something bled and possibly where, and why a clot formed as it did. No heart disease or atherosclerosis present. There are autoimmune disorders that affect clotting factors as well as genetic defects to look into, so maybe in conjunction with some recent stressors possibly enough to flip the switch.
I take medications with proven results like for HBP. I wouldn’t take a statin. Many side effects including memory loss. Actually if you read the studies it’s complicated and it’s not proven that high cholesterol causes heart attacks.
So husband had his annual physical, including blood tests. He is 67 and in pretty good health, not on any medications. His blood glucose results still put him in the pre-diabetic category, (A1C 5.8 and fasting glucose 107) but his numbers have improved quite a bit since the last test 6 months ago, due to improved diet and increased exercise.
His total cholesterol is 168, 48 HDL, 99 LDL, Triglycerides 103. LDL/HDL ratio is 2.07.
His BP is 117/70.
His doc, who is very thorough and careful, plugged all the numbers into a cardiovascular risk calculator and told him he has a 10.8%, 10 year risk of a cardiovascular event and she wants to put him on cholesterol meds to lower that risk. Considering the side effects of cholesterol meds and the fact that his cholesterol is not high at all, is it worth going on meds and risking all the side effects for a few points lowered risk? I could understand it if his cholesterol was very high, or he had very high triglycerides along with it, but his seems quite good because everyone we know who is on cholesterol meds has numbers well over 200 and other risk factors like high BP, high Triglycerides, extremely low HDl. I realize we may have to get a second opinion from another doc, but I am curious what health savvy forum members think about this.
Blood clot in a coronary artery. They are still testing to find out why something bled and possibly where, and why a clot formed as it did. No heart disease or atherosclerosis present. There are autoimmune disorders that affect clotting factors as well as genetic defects to look into, so maybe in conjunction with some recent stressors possibly enough to flip the switch.
Sounds like your docs are on top of this and will figure it out so it never happens again. The fact that you have no heart disease/atherosclerosis is fantastic, congrats on that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teacher Terry
I take medications with proven results like for HBP. I wouldn’t take a statin. Many side effects including memory loss. Actually if you read the studies it’s complicated and it’s not proven that high cholesterol causes heart attacks.
Yes, and his cholesterol is not even high. We know several people who had muscle pains, fatigue, low vit b, and other bad side effects on statins, but they were on them because of very high numbers.
Thank you David, I will send this to him. We've been working on his blood sugar levels (and mine need a lot of work as well) which, unlike his cholesterol, are definitely too high.
Numbers look great. You ask for opinions, mine is that he's just fine. Cut back on the refined carbs to get the numbers even lower including the sugars.
Numbers look great. You ask for opinions, mine is that he's just fine. Cut back on the refined carbs to get the numbers even lower including the sugars.
Thanks, that's what I think too. And yes, we definitely need to get the sugars down, for me as well. I just wonder why she would suggest statins, it seems strange.
I would not take a drug I did not need. I would look at other things like diet and exercise.
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