Lipitor, generic lipitor vs dietary measures
 

I'm just wondering if doctors are asking their patients to try dietary measures first before prescribing medication. Unless your liver is not functioning properly, you should be able to reduce your cholesterol by eating natural (low fat or non-fat) whole foods. Triglycerides should also be controlable through natural means. Assuming that it's possible for many, wouldn't it be worth the effort, considering the side effects? And considering the fact that most people end up taking multiple medications by age 70 to 75.

Note: Drugs are tested separately (not in combination), so no one knows for sure what the risk for disease is. Therefore, multiple drugs can and do sometimes cause liver or kidney failure. (My aunt was one of those who suffered kidney failure from taking multiple medications.)

Many of us take multiple medications.

That in itself is not a bad thing. All of your medications should be monitored by your physician including any supplements.

As for your other question, the causes for high levels of blood cholesterol are many and eating too much fat is the probably the most common cause. Genetics do play an important role too.

This is a pretty good explanation, I think.

.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_cholesterol

So careful monitoring will indicate if the drugs are doing any damage and be in time to prevent kidney failure?

Your link said that dietary adjustments are part of the treatment, along with drugs. So the doctors do tell their patients to cut down on high fat foods, etc.? Sounds good. Although, I have known some people who took medication and then ate whatever they wanted, as if the medication would take care of everything.

About genetics: I remember reading a book by Dr. Dean Ornish where he said that there are receptors that process cholesterol. Some lucky people are born with a lot of them and some have few. Those with too few, have to be especially careful with their diet.

And some people have high cholesterol because their liver produces it and this can be caused by chronic stress. So I wonder if the doctors are also recommending stress reduction techniques.

Thanks for the link. I'll read more later.

:)

Some "new" information about lowering cholesterol
 

In previous posts I forgot to mention exercise as a way to help lower cholesterol. I have noticed that you won't always find everything in one book. I had to look through a couple different books to come up with that.

So the 3 main things are diet, exercise and stress control. And exercise, like walking, can be a form of stress control too.

When people think about diet they usually think about eating less fat and cholesterol. However, it's everything about your diet, including fiber. Fiber plays a big role in helping to keep cholesterol low. The average American only consumes about 12 grams of fiber per day, whereas we need at least 25 grams. And 35 grams would be ideal.

Today, while reviewing one of my books, I got reminded of something very important. It's not just saturated fat and cholesterol that can raise your blood cholesterol. It's animal protein itself! So, if you're eating a lot of non-fat cottage cheese, non-fat ricotta, egg whites, boiled chicken breast, fish and non-fat milk, you are contributing to a higher level of blood cholesterol.

Just to show how animal protein can make a difference, I'll use myself as an example: Up until the beginning of 2006, I was eating a normal amount of low fat animal protein in my diet. I believe my total blood cholesterol was up around 200 at that time (without cholesterol medication). Around May of 2006, I changed to a vegan diet. My next blood test showed my total blood cholesterol to be 184. I was disapointed because I thought that was as good as it was going to get. However, a year later my blood test showed a total cholesterol reading of 164. And it hasn't stopped going down. My latest blood test, on 7-12-2011, showed my total blood cholesterol to be 157. (My triglyceride reading of 73 basically stayed the same.)

Today was the first time I went back through my medical records and compared year by year. And it's amazing that it confirms the information I read about in "The China Study", by T Colin Campbell, PHD.

I am new to this site, but I am not at all new to cholesterol issues. There are some people whose cholesterol cannot be controlled enough through diet and exercise. They have to take medication to keep their cholesterol levels low. Yes, they still should watch their diet, exercise, and reduce stress, but they will always need medication to keep their cholesterol low enough.

True-dat!!! Wish we had a "like" button on this site!!!

Bobbie, I agree! I've been told by an endocrinologist that there is a genetic component. There are people who will need cholesterol medication regardless of how much exercise they get, even if they're slender and Vegan!

How do they know? Have they tried a vegan diet?

I was skeptical of the vegan diet approach until my 51 year old brother was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. We have a strong genetic component related to high cholesterol but he wanted to see if he could get a handle on things with diet alone. After reading The China Study and Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease, he went on an oil-free, vegan diet and his cholesterol dropped from 250 to 150 in 6 months. It's not for everyone and it's not easy to do. You have to be commited to a major life-style change but it can be done. Both of these books, along with Dean Ornish's books are filled with anecdotal evidence of people who got a handle on things without medication.

You mention Dr. Dean Ornish who I think is one of the best. Diet is more important than most people think. Read the posts here about restaurants and how people brag about how good the fried fish was. Set down for a while on one of the squares and see how long it takes to find a person that isn't overweight. It is unfortunately the American diet and as a result diabetes is nearing an epidemic. Cholesterol drugs do a great job, but you are cheating yourself if you don't watch your diet.

I'm sure it's true that if people made better food choices, quit smoking, stopped drinking alcohol, and got more exercise, we'd have a healthier aging population on less meds. And obviously evidence exists that shows a Vegan diet is a healthy alternative. I think most people are aware of this. But Boomers aren't known for self denial.

Thanks, the story about your brother is much appreciated. I went on a vegan diet after reading "The China Study" because I'm trying to prevent cancer. My father and brother both had prostate cancer and many other family members had other forms of cancer. It seems I don't have to worry about heart disease as there hasn't been one instance of heart disease in my large extended family.

I'll add one more book to the good reading list you gave: "The Cardiovascular Cure" by John Cooke, MD, PhD. This book is loaded with good information about arteries and what it takes to reverse artery disease.

:)

Be Careful if a GP takes you off Lipitor.
 

My husbands GP took him off the statin drug he was taking (Lipitor) because his liver numbers were a little off. He did the whole eat right and exercise thing lost weight etc. His colesterol still stayed up at 206.

He almost died. He had without warning a shortness of breath and went to the doctor they did a rush angioplasty and two stints. He had a 97% blockage. The Cardo doctor said if a GP or Geriatric doctor takes you off a statin you should get an assesment by a Cardiologist and an indepth workup including sonigrams to check for blockage. If you have high cholesterol you are at risk. Adjusting your life style to bring it down and thus being able to reduce your dosage is great but don't just stop without a second opinion, my husband did with a potential disaster.

Just our expierience,
TrudyM

Trudy. I am glad to hear a positive for Lipitor. It is a WIDELY prescribed drug that is doing a lot of good for people. There are side effects of course as there is with any prescribed medication.

There are people who sell supplements that will tell people that prescribed medications are bad and that it is a huge industry and selling them makes money for the big pharmaceutical companies. Well of course it does, but many if not most of the commonly prescribed medication like blood pressure meds and Lipitor are prolonging our lives.

VillagesPl. seems very pleased that he takes NO drugs. We have friends who will NOT take prescribed medication from their doctors.

If anyone is not consulting a good MD and just reading popular health books, I think they are doing themselves a huge disservice and possibly endangering their good health.

I do believe that a good diet with less fat and more fruits and vegetables and less sugar would be good for almost everyone, and frequent exercise that raises our heart rate every day is very beneficial, but it is wise also to consult your doctor, insist on proper tests, even if we have to dig deep and pay for them ourselves and for all of us to follow our doctors advice.

Lipitor for me
 

At 66 was still running 25 to 20 mi per week and 2 rounds of golf and bowling.Weighed in at 175- 6'2". Noticed some shortness of breath when running. Had Ekg and triple bypass 4 wks later. Non smoker(ever) non drinker and generally ate healthy. Colestorol prior to Lipitor over 200-ldl= 130+. Now with Lipitor total C= 102- ldl 50. In my case diet has little discernable impact on C level.