Statins

You mum is 87, a responsible GP will say there is no need to take any medication to control cholesterol, whether there is ant side effect or not.!

There is a post high cholesterol is good for fighting infection.

From the given numbers one can work out total cholesterol. Let your mum enjoy her life without any medication, watching out for hidden and free sugar in food and drinks.

Please go back to your GP and ask for medical justification for you mum who is 87 to be on cholesterol lowering medication.

AS we age BP, blood glucose and blood cholesterol do go up but we have to monitor this..

By the way - you have one too many HDL's in your figures - there should be an LDL there .

I can't help you with any advice to give your Mum, but I can suggest that you are cautious in taking as gospel the advice freely handed out on some websites - quite a few of which have a vested interest in selling you a range of products produced and promoted by whichever "guru" happens to have their name on the website. Have a look at some of the articles on these types of websites and once you get through to the end of the "article" there is often a sales pitch for XYZ Wonder Pill/Potion/Capsule specially formulated by Dr Guru the website "owner" to deal with whatever potential disasters you were warned about in the text above the sales pitch.

I have, out of curiosity, and for a couple of months now, been "monitoring" the website of the Doctor you mention (and some other sites as well), and while I have found that some of the writing and advice is supported by good research elsewhere, there is also quite a lot of it which appears to have little purpose other than to sell you whatever product is featured at the bottom of the webpage.

If I were you I would be using the same skills you used to find this HealthUnlocked website and forum to find out about Familial Hypercholesterolemia. While it is definitely NOT the best source of medical info, even Wikipedia will give you a basic understanding of most things, and then you can look further afield to learn more on any subject. The most important thing is to be discriminating in what internet sources you trust, and make sure that what you find is borne out by more than one source - and not just other sources of an "alternative" nature. Cherry-picking research is the name of the game for many of these websites.

However, I do agree with sandybrown when he/she suggests that at 87 your Mum may well be better off enjoying life without a whole heap of side effects from medications. Obviously, neither of us knows her medical situation in detail and we don't have any knowledge of health issues she may have which do require medications. Similarly, there may be other meds which are causing some of her health issues, and we don't know about these either. But, at 87 she's had a pretty good run and deserves to enjoy her life as much as she can - quality of life can sometimes be more important than just trying to clock up extra years but feeling like crap all the time.

Look up the FH group on Facebook, it’s great for offering advice and support specific to people who have been genetically tested for FH - some ‘normal’ rules regarding cholesterol don’t apply to someone with FH.

Heart UK, started to control cholesterol, there are qualified nurses who can answer questions on FH, if you Google HeartUK you can get contact details.

Familial hypercholesterolaemia is a genetically raised cholesterol level. Your Moms are not. Ubiquinol is an excellent choice and do not be pressurised to take statins. Instead take a high quality vitamin C supplement which enables the blood vessel membranes to repair over time. I would add that any increase in cholesterol levels at her age is good for her. Centenarian usually have much higher levels and years gone by these could be as high as 13 as cholesterol is not the principal cause of vascular inflammation. CVD is chronic scurvy - see Utube video Mathias Rath 2015 (Maaastricht Symposium)

Just found out about FH, but wonder if my Mom has a genetically raised cholesterol level.

When she went to the Lipid clinic some 30 years ago and they put her on Lipitor, her cholesterol was 11, and the doctor said she should not have been sitting there with a level that high. My Mom was only 9 when she lost her 29 year old Mom with her heart, and my Moms sister lost her daughter only 27 with her heart.blood testing for cholesterol was not done 78 years ago.

So Iam wondering has the statin kept my Mom alive, or would she have been better off without it. I know no one can answer that, but while she is here, I want her to feel as good as possible.

Thank you I will look at that on youtube.

Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) is an over-diagnosed condition. Doctors 'assume' a person has this condition if the non-HDL level is too high. In order to determine if a person really does have FH there is a specific genetic test that must be done - for obvious reasons (cost), doctors don't pursue this and just estimate based on high cholesterol levels.

My cardiologist had told me that I had FH, I changed my diet and lifestyle, which resulted in weight loss and presto, my cholesterol was under control. I gave up my cholesterol pills 10 months after changing my diet and lifestyle and I haven't looked back (2.5 years and counting).

The most impactful change your mother can make is to cut out sugar and all other sweeteners and simple carbs. Her triglycerides are a reflection of excess sugar/simple carbs in her diet, so if that number comes down, so will the cholesterol.

Avoid soft drinks including diet drinks, minimize alcohol, and stick to water or mineral water.

Also eliminating simple carbohydrates from her diet such as white flour products - white bread, pasta, and pizza dough will reduce triglycerides. White rice and potatoes are also simple carbohydrates that must be eliminated.

Fill her plate up with legumes and vegetables and a lean protein (lean chicken breast), especially cold-water fish like salmon trout or arctic char (fish no more than 2 meals per week).

Whole grains are good in moderation - so she can have whole grain bread and pasta as well as brown rice. Popcorn (air popped with a little extra virgin olive oil and lightly salted) is also a healthy whole grain. Also she can snack on walnuts and almonds (in moderation) which contain healthy fats and other nutrients.

Daily consumption of 4-6 oz of blackberries or blueberries will increase her fibre intake and lower her cholesterol. Frozen berries are actually more nutrient rich than fresh ones that have been imported. I place frozen berries in a bowl and add a half cup of Greek yogurt (0% fat, plain unsweetened). This is a high protein meal/snack that is very healthy and filling and tastes a little bit like ice cream (I emphasize 'a little').

If your mother has not had bypass surgery or angioplasty, then there's no scientific evidence to support the use of statins for women over age 60.

Good luck.

It took some time to get here!

The numbers you gave are HDL 1.8, non- HDL 5.5, Triglycerides 1.6 and Ratio 7.3

Using this Total cholesterol = HDL + non-HDL, the total cholesterol is (1.8 + 5.5= 7.3).

Using this Total cholesterol = LDL + HDL +Triglyceride / 2.19 (7.3= LDL +1.8 +1.6/2.19)

7.3 = LDL + 1.8 + 0.73 therefore LDL = 4.77

To me this academic because of manmade calculation.

We can look at few ratios as well.

Computer information:

These numbers are based on input form research people.

Your Total Cholesterol of 7.30 is HIGH RISK

Your LDL of 4.76 is HIGH RISK

Your HDL of 1.8 is OPTIMAL

Your Triglyceride level of 1.61 is

NORMAL

RATIOS:

Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 4.06 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) GOOD

Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 0.378 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) GOOD

Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.894 - (preferably under 1.74, ideally under 0.87) NORMAL

you can ask your mum's doctor for explanation at the next appointment.

Did your mums symptoms improve for the two months she was off statins?

Hi there sorry to hear what your mom is going through,statins can have some unpleasant side effects.i am in my early 40's and my GP thinks I have familial hypercholesterolemia and I have recently started Lipitor.I do not have my cholesterol numbers on hand but I have always had these odd little soft white bumps on my eyelids and was told that can be from cholesterol buildup.Also one of those people that track my macros so I know that on average my daily intake of cholesterol is only between 30 to 50 mg. Per day which should not be causing high numbers in someone my age.This all recent for me but I am told I will unfortunately be taking statins the rest of my life so I feel for your mom.At her age I would personally consider stopping the medication or try halving the dose to see if she feels better and wouldn't hurt to look into the familial aspect.Not any test to tell you that its more into looking at her past history and try to figure out any common links that could point to her maybe have inherited this,family history of early heart attacks and younger people in my family with early aortic calcification are some reasons my doctor went in this direction.Wish I could give you some solid advice but it seems the more you research the more conflicting information you come across regarding the whole situation

Yes you are absolutely right, my Mom had little white lumps under her eyes and thankfully the doctor sent her to the Lipid clinic, the specialist there said her cholesterol was 11 and she should not be here. The statins have kept her cholesterol under 5 for 30 plus years.

Her Mom was only 29 when she died of heart problems and her sisters daughter was only 27.

If you feel ok on Lipitor then carry on, but don't forget to take Ubiquinol every day to help with your muscles. I wish i had known about this years ago. My mom is on 200mg per day now. I know there are many negative things said about Statins and if you can find a better way, thats fine, but if it takes drugs to lower your cholesterol then you have no choice.

Good Luck.

Article in this link has many answers:

zoeharcombe.com/2015/10/nat...

You can read information on cholesterol deposits on this link:

healthline.com/health/chole...