I talked to my doctor at my last visit, appropriately enough, to renew my quarterly prescriptions for my blood pressure issues, as there is a LOT of information out there telling you that this medication, that exercise, or even those holistic medications are better than anything I whether you have in your army of items to lower your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc., or anyone else’s. Or even worse.

One of the things that worried me was all the snippets of reports stating how bad, or good, statins are for a person. And there are loads of other comments, for and against. And that there is even more information about this drug. Even before I finished explaining my concerns, he printed out a report from the medical world, which I read when I got home.

Now, I tend to be skeptical about things I read in the newspapers or even online, but I managed to take a couple of things from this report. That it came from a legitimate medical source.

It seems that if you have high cholesterol, something like angina, or if you’ve had any type of cardiac incident, stroke, or TIA, statins are recommended as they help reduce the risk of these conditions worsening, or delaying this outcome. . Or you have a very high risk of developing an atheroma-related disease. For example, if you have diabetes. Your risk is considered high when your score is 10% or higher. It is possible that he will develop such a disease in the next 10 years.

The report stated that your doctor should arrange for a blood test before starting statin medication, while at the same time likely monitoring your cholesterol level and whether your liver is functioning properly. After starting treatment, it is recommended that you have another blood test in 1 to 3 months and again in 12 months. To check that his liver hasn’t been affected by my medication. And also check to measure your cholesterol level to see how well your statins are working.

There are some side effects, such as headaches, tingling, stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea, nausea, and rash. Unfortunately, it appears that taking statins may be associated with a 36% increased risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Eating grapefruit or drinking the juice is not recommended as it can increase the level of statin in the bloodstream, but only with simvastatin, atorvastatin, or lovastatin.

Unfortunately, at this stage, I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that I clearly need to take them, but after speaking with my doctor, I know that he will not keep me taking them if I can, with a good diet, regular exercise, and maintaining stress. free as possible, reduce my own incidence of heart effects

Of course, I did not ONLY take information from the report. Since research is my second love after writing, I just had to go online and see what I could find from other sources.

One of them stated that, after analyzing almost 250,000 people, simvastatin and pravastatin were found to have fewer side effects. Unfortunately, there is strong evidence that statins can cause weight gain and a modest increase in diabetes risk.

It is also recommended that you tell your doctor if you have any unexpected muscle aches, tenderness, cramps, or weakness.
But what they have also discovered is that the benefits of taking statins far outweigh the risks.

So, since my continued good health is important to me, I will at least constantly monitor my progress to be medication free. But continue to take my statins unless and until proven to be detrimental to my continued good health.