Statins

FSnow said:

Ask for a referral to a cardiologist. Then request a scan of plaque build up in your arteries etc. I understand the results of this scan can determine if you need to be on statins .
https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/should-you-consider-a-coronary-artery-calcium-scan-

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Hmmmm, I'm not sure that would tell you whether you need to be on statins from the perspective of the NHS/medical personnel. It would tell you what state your arteries are in now (great) but they seem to dish out statins mainly on the basis that you MAY get issues in 10 years time! You can't win when you have these conversations with them,'Ateries blocked?, statins', 'Arteries clear?, statins, because they might become blocked'. Al you can do is plenty of research and decide for yourself.

Grateful said:

I ate (low-sugar) muesli for breakfast three years ago during the entire period when I lowered my A1c from 67 to 34. So I am not worried about it. Besides, I have been drinking a lot of beer over the past year; at least 80g of carbs per day (three or four pints). Lowering the beer intake to zero surely more than compensates for having a small bowl of muesli for breakfast.

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Test, test and test again...never assume..

bulkbiker said:

Test, test and test again...never assume..

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Agreed. In this business, assumption is the road to perdition. But each to their own, of course.

Personally I would never take a statin. They caused my mother to become confused and also to have very painful muscles and a week after she stopped them she was back to normal. What you also need to know is that they can put your blood sugar up and lead to diabetes which is something you certainly do not need.

‘The cholesterol and calorie hypotheses are both dead — it is time to focus on the real culprit: insulin resistance | Insight | Pharmaceutical Journal’

https://www.pharmaceutical-journal....sistance/20203046.fullarticle?firstPass=false

britishpub said:

I received a letter yesterday from my GP, saying that she has just noticed that my QRISK score is above 10 and therefore I should start on a Statin.

She has received my response.

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Would love to read that If is would get past our moderators !!!

Hotpepper20000 said:

If I remember correctly you are not an advocate for using a BG meter.
I would highly recommend that you start testing before and after you meals.
With all those extra carbs I wouldn’t be surprised if your A1C increases.
This would worry me more the the cholesterol numbers.

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I got to stop reading about Statins! It's making me so angry my cholesterol goes though the roof, well it might be but seeing I have never had it tested I can only do the same as most trials that have tried to say it is a CAUSE of heart problems -make up the results. There I go up another notch sigh!

I understand that a calcium scan usefulness is age related.If you are a young diabetic it may tell you nothing. But a typical T2 is 50 so if your arteries are clogged with calcium then maybe your your headed for a serious heart attack risk, which I understand statins can mitigate.
But despite being a diabetic, my score was low and at 70 my cardiologist assessed me as very low risk.
I only took the scan because my wife who has very high cholesterol was being hounded by her GP to go statins.. At the insistence of son in law who is a consultant anesthetist she took the scan 》zero build up. She has low blood pressure and the pulse of a marathon athlete. Assessment was extremely low risk 》no need for Statins.
Conclusions are that LCHF diet may help but,if you have clogged arteries ultimately you may need Statins.

Balderdash! Statins can not mitigate plaque build up in arteries so there is never a need for Statins except to further line the pockets of Big Pharma shareholders. Your wife is lucky to have a good supply of cholesterol as one of the few positive facts to come out of all the trials is that women with high cholesterol live longer than those with low. The telling point of your post is of course "the scan 》zero build up. She has low blood pressure and the pulse of a marathon athlete. Assessment was extremely low risk 》no need for Statins." despite her very high cholesterol. A small sample of one but it shows that cholesterol does not cause blocked arteries.

Well I am not a cardiologist .
I also understand t h e great debate about Statins etc. One can invest vast amounts of time in researching studies etc to prove one's particular point of view and or bias and then try to apply it to yourself and others.
This is no different to the one size fits all approach of drug companies .
Historically all diabetics have been vulnerable to heart attacks therefore we should all take X or do Y.

However, lest we forget peincilian not all drugs are inherently bad, the question is are they right for you.

What is refreshing that medicine appears to slowly adopting a more person centric approach.

In Australia the gov has introduced an (admittedly checklist) assessment of risk of a heart atrack which then can unlock a referral to ranges of test etc (including a ct scan of the arteries) and a referral to a cardiologist.

So that's what I did and balanced a little radation risk against the risks of Statins. So I recommend that everyone try to find out what your risk is.

In summary try and understand the problem before looking at the solutions. Less stress about what our personal risks are and what if anything we should do about them may help reduce our hba1c.

FSnow said:

Historically all diabetics have been vulnerable to heart attacks therefore we should all take X or do Y.

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Badly controlled I'm guessing you mean?
I doubt there is any evidence about those in remission as until fairly recently it was considered impossible.

bulkbiker said:

Badly controlled I'm guessing you mean?
I doubt there is any evidence about those in remission as until fairly recently it was considered impossible.

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Historically following poor dietary advice (Low fat - poor carb choices) and running high insulin levels. Major contributors I think. Little wonder imo.

bulkbiker said:

Badly controlled I'm guessing you mean?
I doubt there is any evidence about those in remission as until fairly recently it was considered impossible.

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More importantly, the arrows of causation in these matters are always shooting off in all different directions,. No one has ever fully disentangled it all. Is it the diabetes in and of itself that causes heart disease, or is it several decades of mainlining whole grains that caused both?

FSnow said:

Well I am not a cardiologist .


In summary try and understand the problem before looking at the solutions. Less stress about what our personal risks are and what if anything we should do about them may help reduce our hba1c.

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I am not a cardiologist either but I have researched the effect of , originally plant Phytosterols, then synthetic statins for 30 years. Having read research papers avidly and had discussions with many leading cardiologists on the subject I think I have a reasonable grasp of the problem. Lowering cholesterol does not prevent CVD as a high level is not a cause but an indication of other problems. Treat the other CAUSES like diet and life style which leads to damage of blood cells and deposits on the arteries.
By all means have regular scans and be concerned if you have a high cholesterol level but check what is causing it rather than suppress it.