LDL cholesterol in diabetics and statins

bulkbiker

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Thanks everyone for your input! There is a lot to consider, definitely. But still as of now there is no way I will take statins. It's just really irritating how health practitioners are relentless in pushing them.
So here are my lipid panel results from last week. My total cholesterol and LDL have decreased, but unfortunately so has my HDL, and my trigs have increased a bit.

Total cholesterol: 5.2
HDL: 1.88
LDL: 3.1
Cholesterol/HDL: 2.8
Trigs: 1.16

I noticed that the cut-off for total cholesterol was 6.2 mmol/l in 2018 when I had my first lipid panel, now it's down to 5.0, and for LDL it was 4.1, now it's down to 3.1!

Had you fasted pre blood test?

Also if (as I do) you believe that ratios are more important than absolute values and that Trig/HDL is the most important ratio then...
Anything under 0.87 is considered excellent.. yours is 1.16/1.88 = 0.62 which is great.

Live long and prosper, statin free!
 

zand

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No, I didn't fast. Would my results have been even lower? :)
Yes they probably would have been. I find it annoying that they no longer tell us to fast before cholesterol tests. Methinks it's most likely to persuade us we need statins...
 
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Lainie71

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The term "big boned" lol repeatedly told this growing up!
My mother has been on statins for a few years now. She's 74 and I've noticed her increasing forgetfulness. I don't know whether due to age or statins, but it's definitely disconcerting!
My mum memory faded. She was never like it 10 years ago and I put most of if down to the statins. She would just stare into space at times - heart breaking to see.
 

Outlier

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Similar with my vibrant, dynamic sister. Started statins and became like someone vague and rambling, with added shoulder pain. Stopped statins after 18 months and - she was back as she's always been.
 

bulkbiker

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No, I didn't fast. Would my results have been even lower? :)

Your triglycerides may well have been, which may have made your ratio even better!
Depends what you had to eat and how it effects you.

Cholesterol numbers are pretty dynamic like blood sugar so what you eat can be quite important hence the 12-14 hour water only fast beforehand recommendation to get a "clean" reading.

That's assuming you care about the reading in the first place of course.
 

bulkbiker

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https://www.researchgate.net/public...s_the_Risk_Factor_of_Atherosclerotic_Diseases

"“Lipid-lowering drugs” are now widely used in atherosclerotic diseases. Many animal studies or clinical studies of lipid-lowering drugs have reported that lipid-lowering drugs are “very effective” in atherosclerotic diseases. However, it is puzzling that even if the so-called "bad lipids" of patients is reduced to a very low level, the atherosclerotic disease continues to progress."
 
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Oldvatr

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https://www.researchgate.net/public...s_the_Risk_Factor_of_Atherosclerotic_Diseases

"“Lipid-lowering drugs” are now widely used in atherosclerotic diseases. Many animal studies or clinical studies of lipid-lowering drugs have reported that lipid-lowering drugs are “very effective” in atherosclerotic diseases. However, it is puzzling that even if the so-called "bad lipids" of patients is reduced to a very low level, the atherosclerotic disease continues to progress."
That paper is classed as a View Project, and has a single author. In other words, it i a POV or Blog and seems to be personal opinion. I happen to agree with it, but it is not offering any real evidence in support, He is of the opinion that Metabolic Disorder => raised LDL-C and lipids in general. Also Metabolic disease => atherosclerosis in 50% of patients with it. Therefore the conclusion used to support statin use is that it is the LDL-C increase that causes plaque, Nope, thats a bridge too far and that is what has not been proven. He does give a description of the different components that make up plaque, and it is clear that a lot of the debris is not lipid sourced. i suspect there are nuggets in the externsl references that may support his POV but I don;t have the energy to review them. I have seen other papers that support instead.

Edit to add update: most of the references he makes are to papers he also authored. The other references seem to be to another blogger Ravnskov U,. there are books and glossy Utube videos as backup. He himself is an active medical specialist in the research field of atherosclerosis and has many other papers on the subject
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Xinggang-Wang-3.
 
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aard

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re orig post statins with trig 0.67 and ldl of 4.6 and they want you on statins?

those sound great my trigs are 5.6 and Ldl unmeasurable due to ratio/trigs!!!

I get impression from conversations with my surgery these days is that anyone with diabetes is put on statins.
 
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michelle88

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Hi, I just wanted to post my latest lipid panel, taken on February 8, 2023. Everything has increased except for my trigs, but I calculated the ratios and they are better than last time! Of course, due to my increased numbers, the endo suggested statins, which I again refused. It's maddening really how insistent they are o_O:stop::oops: Anyhoo, here are my results in mmol/l:

Total chol.: 6 (2022: 5.1)
HDL: 2.35 (2022: 1.88)
LDL: 4.0 (2022: 3.1)
Trigs: 1.09 (2022: 1.16)

So what do you think, can I be happy with these numbers? What can I improve?
 
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jaywak

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My father in law who is a fit and healthy 85 year old has just had a heart attack but is doing fine , he refused statins years ago because of the bad press at the time , he was advised by his consultant that if he had taken the statins when advised too the heart attack may never of happened and he is now telling everybody if you're offered statins take them, so I think you have to look at the pros and cons .
 

jaywak

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Just saying he was very ANTI and now all for it , but then again he won't have a covid , flu or pneumonia ,maybe he'll have to get ill before he'll change his mind .
The important bit there is MAY. Had he bought a lottery ticket over the years he may have been a multi millionaire.
How many 85 year olds who took statins over the years also had heart attacks.
Good point !
 

Oldvatr

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Just saying he was very ANTI and now all for it , but then again he won't have a covid , flu or pneumonia ,maybe he'll have to get ill before he'll change his mind .

Good point !
I was ANTI before my strokes, and I am still ANTI. I was also anti before my several heart attacks, and I am still ANTI. The evidence that they use to base their decisions on does not seem to be valid. We are seeing more studies showing that LDL cholesterol is not responsible for plaque buildup in the arteries.
 

HSSS

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We are seeing more studies showing that LDL cholesterol is not responsible for plaque buildup in the arteries.
Exactly. LDL patches over damaged arteries in my understanding. Better to question what’s causing the damage surely than blame the sticking plaster for problems. Yet another “worry about the symptom and ignore the cause” issue so prevalent in modern medicine (hyperglycemia rather than hyperinsulimia for example)
 
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ajbod

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There's no money in a CURE, but sustained drug therapy KERCHINGGGG.
I've had 2 strokes, and what i assume was a tia which i kept quiet about, all whilst taking maximum dose Atorvastatin. My belief now is that MY body decides how much Cholesterol it needs, the more i consume the less it produces ITSELF, and vice versa.
And since stopping the statins, my Alzheimer like symptoms have GONE, my leg weakness has GONE, and the horrible leg pains and cramps have GONE.
I would far prefer to live 4 days less as i am now, than how i was (which would have felt like many years more).
 

jaywak

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Reading these comments I will say is a little bit worrying , but I have been taking Simvastatin for years because i'me type 1 and classed as high risk but I haven't had any side effects and my cholesterol is always in range albeit on the high side !