On Sunday, June 17, 2012 4:25:20 PM UTC-7, Swingman wrote:
I don't tolerate statins at all, zero, zip.

You do know that the ingredient that makes red-rice yeast work lowering
cholesterol is a statin? Lovastatin is a natural product of that
fermentation process, so if you don't tolerate statins, you probably should
not consider red-rice yeast as a supplement. Her ratio is good, even
though the total may be "high" (hell, with that ratio, is it really
"high"?) ... too many doctors just treat the numbers and not the patient
these days. AAMOf, there is a good deal of research out there now that
seriously questions the need, or advisability, of most women even taking
statins.

Amazing how the simple act of walking will bring all these levels down to
normal levels. I wore out about 15 pair of shoes the past ten years, but
took a break last year. Just started back up walking about a month ago and
dropped about ten pounds thus far without doing anything else.



Beats the hell out of Big Pharma dictating to the doctors who are prone to
treat just the numbers ... "better living through chemistry", I suspect,
equates more to "more profits through chemical marketing" these days.

Besides, I'm highly suspicious of this profitable statin business in any
regard ... Caveat emptor.

Yes, but the patent on Lipitor is expiring this year, so they'll try to sell us on something else.

However, the evidence is absolutely clear: Atorvastatin (i.e. Lipitor) is associated with increased life span after a heart attack. I did do a lot of research on the scientific literature on all drugs and treatments after my heart attack in June 2008. The benefits of using it just to lower cholesterol are not established; most studies show little effect on life span or frequency of MIA (myocardial infarctions or heart attacks). Little evidence for using the other cholesterol-reducing statins. And the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease is not all that straightforward: while people with high cholesterol are more likely ot develop heart disease, most people who develop heart disease do not have high cholesterol. I didn't.

I smoked for 40 years from age 12 until seven month before my heart attack. (Life is not fair!) I do have COPD, which will only get worse, but I live in a place with little air pollution, and am installing a really good dust extraction system in the shop. Unlike Larry, I still like the smell of cigarettes and tobacco, but I am not really tempted to start again; it looks my addiction has been overcome

I ride my bike a lot, which probably raised my carbon footprint when I breathe hard. :-)

Luigi