angiogram results are in

[ickihun]

Thank you @TheBigNewt .

So I could benefit from statins since I do have mild coronary heart disease but more at risk of stroke as type2 due to raging high blood pressure so blood pressure meds more important. Blood pressure regular checks too.
I feel blessed I'm on very good high blood pressure meds and was started on them after my first pregnancy which is when it first developed.
Weight loss could be adventageous to me then? Well endo seems to think so as I'm in tier3 and hoping to soon progress to tier4 of my local bariatric programme.
So blood pressure increase far more important then cholesterol increase too? I think my gp looks at it like that, for me. Cardiologist who discharged me too, I think.
I know they conversed but my notes were unreadable upside down at time of angiogram.

 

[TheBigNewt]

Yes HTN is the big risk factor for stroke. Enhanced BP control wasn't shown to benefit wrt CAD in the randomized MRFIT trial long ago.

 

[sweetbloodsher]

This is the type of post that puts me in a dilemma.
It is difficult, idiotic perhaps, to argue with the advice of your cardiologist. The cholesterol debate rages on and there are many papers / videos / personal testimonies available out there. I have my own views of that.
But I have read also that Statins help CVD outcomes independent of cholesterol. I'd be interested to know whether your cardiologist prescribed you statins, even partially on this basis.
I know that TheBigNewt is a statin fan, 'uses them up the yazzoo' he wrote on here recently. Now, that's direct from a specialists mouth. He generously took time to exchange a couple of messages with me and he tipped my thinking towards a statin.
Yet why do I still dither? Two reasons really. Firstly I think the advice I got (UK) when I was diagnosed T2 was poor (and I'm not the only one). Vis, Metformin and statin and change of diet to the 'healthy plate'. None of which I liked the sound of.
Secondly I'm waiting the results of angiogram and CT scan in early January. If it's bad I'll start statins but I do want to discuss properly the ins and outs with the vascular surgeon - if he has time!
In fact I've had more advice and explanation from TheBigNewt - a man I don't know, who's three thousand miles away - than I've had with my vascular surgeon and GP combined.

I think I was in shock when my cardio brought this us, so I agreed without doing research on the use of statins. My GP, without knowing my experience with the cardio, also recommended statins shortly afterward. My personal experience with my father's many strokes, possibly had something to do with my decision to be extra cautious. So far, have had no side affects at all. Good luck to you with your decision.

 

[TheBigNewt]

All drugs have the potential to cause side effects. Heck, you can buy a supplement in health food stores that can cause you to end up on dialysis, ask people at a Belgian weight loss clinic that changed their supplement from China, the manufacturer had switched an ingredient didn't tell them and BAM, 12 people's kidneys went bye bye. But statins have a long track record of being not only safe, but well tolerated in the vast majority of patients. If you have a problem you stop it. They were released in the US in 1987.

 

[Guzzler]

So who decided what the recommended levels of cholesterol should be and how did they come by their decision? I beleive the guidelines tell of <5 for the general population and <4 for those with Diabetes.
Dr. Malcolm Kendrick pondered this question and found the answer easily enough.

 

[TheBigNewt]

I've said numerous times I use high dose statins (Lipitor 80/d) in persons with established coronary disease, people with stents, bypass, heart attack, documented blockage by angiogram). At one time there was a "recommended" LDL cholesterol level (70mg/dl) for them. Now it's been shown they benefit them no matter what it is, so just take them no matter what, and don't bother checking the cholesterol levels. That's the ACC guidelines. You're talking primary prevention which is different from secondary prevention which is what I treat most often.