I have recently had my cholestorel level checked and not...

Statins are not shown to be effective or useful in females and very few males have been scientifically shown to benefit from statins... only those that have a pre-existing heart condition. Otherwise statins have been shown to be a robust predictor of mortality (death) in the non-demented elderly.

xrn

P, I would recommend you seek the further advice of a qualified medical professional who will be able to assess your risk.

Meanwhile, take a look at this article on this site (and links at the bottom) which has been compiled after an independent assessment of the scientific evidence of risks and benefits.

Let us know how you get on.

By the way, I have not yet seen any evidence to suggest statins are a predictor of death in the elderly. So, again I should talk to your health professional if you are worried.

I had a cholesterol level of \"7\" I never saw the exact result, blood pressure 135/80, BMI of 27 all of which are high but the receptionist (Note, not GP) at my GP', practice said I was \"Normal.\" I know cholesterol is more complicated than this with the HDL/LDL ratio being important but following the tests I would have assumed a better quality of follow up. My diet is generally good and I take excercise, gym three times per week etc. I drink too much but my liver function test was \"Normal,\" again no figures given to me. I am 61

I just had my second Cholesterol Level test. My first last year gave me a result of 7.1 The GP was so concerned he called me by telephone. I am a male, now aged 42, pretty fit - even if I saw so myself, but I run and am also a member of a local mountain rescue team, don't smoke, don't drink.

When I had my first result last year given my family history (father and two older sisters both with early aged heart attacks and an uncle who dropped dead of one at 38) the GP I saw decided straight away to put me on statins. Well, what a disaster they turned out to be. With two weeks at most I couldn't run and could hardly walk due to joint pain in my legs. Once I stopped it took a couple of weeks to get them out of my system and everything was fine so my GP said, okay, lets try diet only and see what happens. We'll call you back in 6 months.

A year later I thought ah, not heard anything. So I made another appointment. Saw a different GP who was very concerned given my family history, she even asked if there had been any genetic testing to see if the problem was hereditary. So she send me for my second test. Heard nothing back so thought, hey maybe its good news, but I'd better check. Phoned for results yesterday. It was 7.0. And the doctor who had been so concerned? She's flagged me down for no further action required. To top it all when I tried to make an appointment to discuss this I was told that the "book" was closed now for this week so that they weren't now making routine appointments until next week when they would be booking appointments two weeks in advance. Can't say I am very happy with that.

Ok rant over. Feel much better for getting it off my chest.

hi i have an overall risk factor of 13% of heart disease from my cholesterol reading and my doctor has continued to suggest i take benicol daily, saying that unless my risk factor goes up to 20% i dont need statins, but as i have a family history of heart /stroke attacks i wonder if i should be on statins by now?

my mother and sister were under 58 when they had their heart attack/stroke. i am a 62yr. female. i am due another blood test in June.