I have been fairly fit my whole life, competing in sports, when younger at a very high level. I have good diet, devoid of fatty meats, high in veggies, fiber, etc. I have always had normal total cholesterol levels. I am not diabetic. I have taken supplements etc. I am now on statins to treat heart disease. Why since all the above looks normal/good? Because hereditary disposition and work stress. In short, Saying you cholesterol is x%, and it is the wrong unit and metric, doesn’t necessarily provide a full picture. And a forum is not a place to get medical advise.
My use and my rational for statins, is from multiple specialist dr. , peer reviewed articles, and large scale studies. Statins are for a number of things including stabilizing plaque in the heart to prevent future heart attacks. They also shown to help fight inflammation in you arteries which allows plague to enter the lining of arteries and build up. Inflammation comes from smoking, stress, etc. 10+ years ago people focused on fat, but heart disease is looking to be an inflammatory disease. If I knew more about statins I would have started 20 years ago to reduce my heart disease severity, which is a treatment for people with hereditary disposition even before heart disease sets in. Statins are well tolerated by the vast majority of people especially at low to moderate dosages; and adjusting dosages usual takes care of fairly rare side effects. I was taking the max/very high dosage (80mg atrovastin) and had to adjust down due muscle pain, which went away.
I do not rely on just statins. I exercise, I eat med diet, I lost weight, I take oil supplements, etc. I have one life and I going to give myself a higher chance of being around longer.
