Tag: cholesterol

Do women need to worry about cholesterol?

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 4 Comments

cholesterolby Carolyn Thomas  ♥  @HeartSisters

Physician  does a creative job of clearing up some confusing questions about cholesterol in his always enlightening “Musings of a Distractible Mind“.

He starts off by reminding us that the current protocols for treating high cholesterol date back to before he was practicing medicine.

“Some smart scientists had noticed that people with high cholesterol had a higher risk of heart attack. More scientists got together and decided that, based on the evidence, keeping a low cholesterol number was a good idea. To celebrate their decision, they went out to a dinner of bacon cheeseburgers and donuts.”     Continue reading “Do women need to worry about cholesterol?” →

Women at greater risk for side effects when taking statin drugs for cholesterol

~ Carolyn Thomas ~ 24 Comments

by Carolyn Thomas  ♥ @HeartSisters

Statins are the largest selling class of prescription drugs on earth, and account for over 40% of all heart  medications. Lipitor, for example, at over $26 billion in global sales, was the world’s biggest selling drug, manufactured by the world’s biggest drug company, Pfizer.

Because of their effectiveness in managing cholesterol levels, statins are often prescribed to lower total cholesterol in the belief that lower numbers will mean fewer heart attacks. Most people who are prescribed statins are healthy people who don’t have heart disease but who simply have high cholesterol. They will take these drugs for the rest of their lives, making statins a dream drug for the pharmaceutical companies that make them. Continue reading “Women at greater risk for side effects when taking statin drugs for cholesterol” →