Quote from Alistair:

Finres

Excuse me for asking but when did you become THE expert on cholesterol, I find some of your posts way O.T.T. and quite alarming.

Alistair,

You are alarmed. That's a good thing. My girlfriend's mother is 65 years old. She was on Lipitor for over a year. Her last set of liver studies were way out of whack and her doctor discontinued it.

I am 56 years old (yes, I robbed gthe cradle) In 1987, I was involved in the Mevocor Trials. It was a double-blind study. I had a Total Cholesterol of over 300 when I started the medication. My triglycerides were over 175, I believe. My HDL and LDL were fairly high, but I don't recall how high.

After a year, I learned I was one of the patients in the study who was receiving 20mg of Mevacor. All of my levels dropped well into normal and below.

By 1994, after being off of Mevacor for seven years, my cholesterol levels went up to the pre-trial level. I didn't restart the statins but my primary care physician put me on a diet aimed at decreasing my weight, which at the time was 250. In 1997, after having lost 85 pounds in 11 months, keeping it off and walking, running or swimming almost every day, my cholesterol levels were again normal.

I am a strong believer in letting my body heal itself if possible. I am dead set against using statins because of all of the adverse affects that have been reported with them.