US Doctors Urge Wider Use Of Cholesterol Drugs

[Warpy]

101. Your cholesterol load is only about 10% dietary

There is only so much that diet alone can do.

The rest of your cholesterol is manufactured in your liver and having some of it is necessary to keep you alive.

Some people are genetically programmed to produce a huge overabundance of cholesterol. These people used to die of stroke or heart disease in their late 30s. With statin drugs, they're managing to live as long as the rest of us do.

Don't kid yourselves, statin drugs can be lifesavers for people who can tolerate them.

I do have to question their being given to people with high normal cholesterol that would be amenable to dietary changes, especially in the absence of other risk factors like family history and patient smoking.

I also disagree with promotion of wider use of them. I think a hell of a lot more studies have to be done on cardiovascular disease because cholesterol is only one part of a complex system that can go haywire.