My alleged heart attack
To stop you from worrying I have not had a heart attack. Or any inkling of one.Recently when I saw my excellent endo we had a discussion about whether I should continue to take a statin to reduce my cholesterol.
I've been taking Lipitor for about a year. I changed my use of the medicine (this may not work for you) from a 10mg pill every day to half of a 10mg pill every other day. I see a substantial reduction in my cholesterol level with this dose and I don't seem to have any of the possible side effects, thank God.
But a while ago, I read news about investigations into the benefits of taking statins. This was why I had the conversation. I was especially taken by the quote from the NY Times article."If a patient has had a heart attack," Dr. Afilalo said, "they generally should be on a statin."For people who haven't had a heart attack the investigation showed there isn't as much evidence that taking statins provides a substantial benefit to enough folks to justify everyone taking it.
I was shocked by her response. "But you've already had a heart attack." For a moment I thought I was in an alternate dimension. I reminded her that I'd not actually had one. She told me that type 1 diabetes increases my risk of heart problems. Just as much as if I'd actually had one. Yikes.
Now I do really like and respect my endo. I've moved medical offices to follow her from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. But I still like to verify what I'm told, it's my natural cynical nature.
Then earlier this month I saw this news report. She was right! A recent study found that folks with diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) have double the risk for a heart attack.
So for now I'll be staying on my statin and living with yet another drug to reduce the risk of "bad things" happening in my future.
Attribution: This beautiful picture was taken by Conny. She retains all rights to the image and I'm grateful to her for letting me use it in this post.
Labels: diabetes, health, heart, risk, statins
posted by Bernard @ 5:40 PM
6 Comments:
I was also told that fact. The worst part is that my dad died of a heart attack at 43 years of age.
I am super scared
I am not sold on this research...
"The researchers also couldn't differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients or adjust for common risk factors, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking, physical activity and blood glucose levels."
My blood pressure, cholesterol etc are all fine and I don't think it is reasonable for a doctor to assume having diabetes is equivalent to already having had a heart attack until I see more evidence...
If the purpose of a statin is to lower cholesterol, and my cholesterol is already in a healthy range due to a combination of lucky genetics, exercise, and diet, then why would I ever consider this? Like most things in medicine the decision should be individual and a blanket statement that all diabetics seems inappropriate (not that you were making one; but it looks like this is the view of some doctors out there from your post).
Before reaching for a drug, I believe many people could benefit greatly from more exercise & improved diets and then not have to worry about possible side effects. (Of course, I acknowledge that, for many, the drugs are necessary and valuable and diet/exercise alone won't cut it.)
Same here, George. My mom died of one at 55. Because of this my doc is super-agressive. I've been on cholesterol drugs for about 10 years now.
It would be nice if a separate controlled study of adult type 1s could confirm or refute this, though...
Anne
Thank you for the comment. I agree with you.
I didn't take statins for the longest time because both my blood pressure and cholesterol levels were good.
Then my cholesterol started to creep up and the recommended levels were reduced. Suddenly I had 'high' cholesterol.
I think the reason I can get by on a quarter dose because I did make some lifestyle changes with more exercise and healthier eating. Those definitely had a positive effect, but were not sufficient by themselves.
In the end, it's all about risk reduction. If I kept my cholesterol high do I substantially increase my risk of heart problems? If I was seeing side effects, I think my decision would be very different.
Your view on the subject is close to Greg's. Besides type 1, he's got a strong maternal family history of hyperlipidemia.
So, Zetia might not prevent heart attacks, but his maternal grandmother didn't die of a heart attack - she died of plaque-related blockage of the mesentery artery. And since it's helped his cholesterol incredibly, Vytorin it is for him.
Is heart disease really a disease of high cholesterol? Do all doctors agree with yours that statin drugs like Lipitor are the answer? Read the report of a retired family doctor and former NASA scientist astronaut.
Lipitor Cognitive Side Effects Concern
What are the side effects of taking Lipitor and could it actually CAUSE you to have a heart attack? Check it out at
The cholesterol Conspiracy
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