Elevated cholesterol is a lab result, not a disease.

[cjbrooksjc]

The following FYI is copied from the Blog of Michael R. Eades, M.D.

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I have a friend who recently turned 49. He is, to all outwards appearances, health as a horse. He hikes, he works out, he plays a lot of golf, always walking and carrying his bag, he isn’t overweight, and he has a good family history. His father died in his late 70s and his mother, age 84, is still living and drives her car everywhere. This guy is your basic active healthy middle-aged male with no obvious problems. Then he goes to the doctor to get a physical exam.

All the tests and screenings come out normal except for one. You probably guessed it. His cholesterol was a little high. At 215 mg/dl it came in over the magic cutoff of 200. And like all ‘good’ doctors, his recommended that he go on a statin drug. So he went on Lipitor. And promptly got muscle aches and felt lousy. He called his doctor about the pain, and his doctor told him to keep on taking the Lipitor. He said the aches should subside with time. So my friend soldiered on and took his medicine. But his pain continued. After several months of this aggravating pain, my friend asked me about it. I was stunned to learn that with his age, condition, and family history, his doctor had started him on a statin. I suggested that he discontinue the drug and load up on some CoQ10, which he did. His muscle pain went away and he was soon back to his old self.

But, he had had the fear of high cholesterol laid upon him. He asked me about it and told me that he was a little worried. I gave him the talk that I have given ad nauseum on the pages of this blog about the lipid hypothesis being only a hypothesis and that cholesterol doesn’t mean squat and that a statin wouldn’t help him improve his overall chances of not dying. He was reassured but not totally convinced. I suggested an EBT scan of his heart for a calcium score, an actual indicator of coronary plaque. We went for it and ended up with a calcium score of zero, which indicates virtually no coronary plaque. The doctor who gave him his physical was treating him for a non-existent disease. An elevated cholesterol isn’t a disease - it’s a lab value.
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Not ALL doctors are overpaid pharmacists.

Best,

Brooks

[Cat Mom2]

"calcium score of zero, which indicates virtually no coronary plaque."

I LOVE IT! Which is cheaper, doing that EBT scan or taking a statin drug for the rest of your life?