My cholesterol level dropped almost 100 mg/dL thanks to the drug atorvastatin! I’ve been taking 10mg daily since March of this year. Wow! My cholesterol levels in my blood have been averaging 221 since I started recording them in 2005. I finally took the plunge this spring when I had a reading of 243.6, and combined with my age, puts me at an 8% higher risk of heart attack. This put me on the threshold of taking a statin so I decided to stick with it this spring to see how it goes. I saw big losses also in my levels of triglycerides (-176) and LDL (-76). My HDL (good cholesterol) is still not much over the recommended threshold of 40 mg/dL. I’ll try to eat more foods that help that and exercise more.
I can see why atorvastatin is the most commonly prescribed drug in the USA with over 141 million prescriptions annually. Heart disease is the number one killer of humans, and lowering my cholesterol lowers my risk of a stroke or heart attack. Atorvastatin is shown to reduce heart attacks in multiple research studies. Thanks to Bruce Roth who invented the drug way back in 1985. The drug sold over $125 billion under the trade name Lipitor between 1996 and 2012 for Pfizer. The medication is relatively inexpensive and all health plans cover the cost for adults between 40 and 75 in the USA.
I continue to closely monitor my health and set an appointment for a colonoscopy next summer. That will be a great blog post! 🙂 This year I will try to follow Michael Pollan’s mantra, “Eat food (no heavily processed food), not too much (I need to eat less, I still eat portions like I am a teenager) and eat more plants (not only good for you, but good for the planet). I will also try to exercise more. Yesterday morning I went for a run at the track at the beautiful Nelson Field.
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