Doctor wants me to go on Lipitor.....What do you all think? I am a 39 yr old female, 5'2 100 lbs and smoke. The doctor say's it's probably hereditary. Any opinions?

TC - 264
HDL - 94
LDL - 153
Tri - 87
Ratio - 2.8

hi. i just dont get, your hdl is great and your ratio is great too, but they stillwant you on meds. im not saying dont ,im not a dr., but they give conflicting advice, is agood ratio protective,or low ldl and a bad ratio. i know alot of people with bad ratio but low ldl but they dont put them on meds.your trigs are also great, i dont get it. are statins the miracle that we should all be on? jackie

Kaylee:

I agree with phja. With an HDL that high, low triglycerides, and a very favorable ratio, there is no reason for you to start taking Lipitor. With such favorable numbers, I personally don't think that you need to concern yourself too much with your total cholesterol number. If your doctor tries to use psychological scare tactics to persuade you to take it, then tell him to take it himself and find yourself another doctor.

I see that U smoke, so that is a risk factor, but with those numbers, especially such a great HDL, I would give diet and exercise at least a 3 or 4 month try. I think your dr. is jumping the gun. JMHO Have a talk with him/her and find out why they want you on meds., as your numbers are not bad at all. Unless U have other risk factors like heart disease, high BP, overweight, which U certainly are not, then a try with diet and exercise should be the first option. Good luck and keep us posted. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif JJ

Can you explain to me why if the HDL is high why that is good? He told me the norm was 35-60 so I was assuming mine was high and that meant that it was bad. Excuse me for my ignorance, I really don't understand this stuff. My doctor had told me to go on Lipitor back in April, I had it filled and then decided not to go on it. My mom just found out that her Tri are 654 and that's on medication so I started wondering if I should start taking the medicine. After reading all your posts I think I might wait. The diet part might be hard though because I really don't eat much I expecially don't eat very much meat or any junk food. I'm glad to hear my numbers look good. Which number would lower if I stopped smoking? Thanks so much for all your help http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Your doctor is definitely not up to date on the lastest cholesterol recommendations. Ratios are more important than total numbers. HDL is the good cholesterol because it is said to attach itself to the impurities, oxidized cholesterol, in the bloodstream and return them to the liver for removal, more the better. Having a high HDL level also raises total number, that is why ratios are more important. My guess is that you don't eat junk food so you consume a same amount of trans fats/hydrogenated oils(the really bad stuff), so your trigs are low, very good. High trig levels and your HDL/Trig ratio are said to be the greatest influence on heart disease. Stopping smoking would help your HDL do its job by having less impurities in your bloodstream that would eventually do severe damage to your vascular system. Simply said, your blood vessels will eventually lose their elasticity and become less functional.
For your perusal - punch in your numbers to find your risk http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/atpiii/calculator.asp?usertype=prof