Statins


Someone close to me has seen her total cholesterol gradually climb to just north of 240 (I don't have the lab report in front of me--her LDL is elevated slightly, but her HDL is good--164, I think).
She is by inclination averse to taking meds, and her trusted internist wants her to go on a statin.
I am caught between my general inclination to do what the good doctor tells me to, and my increasing apprehension about the news coming out every day--about docs getting perks from pharma companies, about NIH study groups packed with doctors who have a financial interest in the drugs they are recommending (etc, etc.--I tell you this not to stir up trouble--I've been on the receiving end of the assault by alternative groups beating me up on amalgam, root canals, x-rays, etc.).
Most of what I've gathered on the web indicates to me that the serious risks (hepatotoxicity, rhabdomyolysis) are pretty small. What I really want to know is whether statins aren't being over-recommended. Specifically, I am thrown by stats I see that while women with elevated cholesterol put on statins suffer lower incidence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, but that the overall death rate is not decreased. The other snippet I see (sorry, I don't have the source in front of me) is that HDL levels have a far greater predictive significance in development of cardiovascular disease than do either total blood cholesterol or LDL levels.
Can someone parse these issues out for me?

TIA,
Steve


--
Mark & Steven Bornfeld DDS
http://www.dentaltwins.com
Brooklyn, NY
718-258-5001
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Strategies for People to Raise Their Levels of Good HDL Cholesterol
    ... >> to prevent heart disease have not addressed the best means to raise HDL ... >> the researchers reviewed how over a period of three years his HDL levels ... >> exercise, ceased smoking, assumed control over his weight as measured by ... >> Statins are the least effective of the three drug ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Strategies for People to Raise Their Levels of Good HDL Cholesterol
    ... >> to prevent heart disease have not addressed the best means to raise HDL ... >> increase in HDL cholesterol lowers a person¹s risk of suffering a fatal ... >> the researchers reviewed how over a period of three years his HDL levels ... >> Statins are the least effective of the three drug ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Frightened to srart statin
    ... >> is HDL, LDL, triglycerides?) ... >> lowering the LDL cholesterols. ... >> furvor over newer meds. ... Most side effects of statins reverse - particularly ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Outragious
    ... Statins only took away 22% of my muscle mass. ... MY HDL is ... LDL 256 ... The Cardio guy had his nurse call me and call in the prescription. ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)
  • Re: Lack of evidence for LDL treatment targets
    ... I recall that pantethine lowered my LDL by 70 points during the same three months it gave me a small uptick, to 70, in my HDL. ... That's the whole effing ballgame, pretty much, in terms of CVD prevention and treatment. ... It is believed to improve lipid and carbohydrate metabolism, which statins do not appear to do. ...
    (sci.med.cardiology)