Practice is king - really?

Practice is king - really?

I appropriately chatted with my doctor on my last visit to renew my quarterly prescriptions for my blood pressure issues as there is so much information out there telling you that this drug, exercise or even these holistic medications are better than anything you already have in your army of items for lowering your or anyone's blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. Or even that they are worse.

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

Now I tend to be skeptical of things I read in newspapers or even online, but I managed to glean a few things from this report. Which came from a legitimate medical source.

It appears that statins are recommended if you have high cholesterol, such as angina, or if you have had a heart attack, stroke or TIA, as they reduce the risk of these conditions worsening or delay this outcome. Or you have a greatly increased risk of developing an atheroma-related disease. For example, if you have diabetes. Your risk is considered high if your score is 10% or higher. You may develop such a disease in the next 10 years.

The report states that your doctor should do a blood test before starting statin medication, while at the same time they will likely check your cholesterol levels and that your liver is functioning properly. After starting treatment, it is recommended to have another blood test after 1-3 months and again after 12 months. To check that your liver is not affected, take the medication. Also check your cholesterol levels to see how well your statins are working.

There are some side effects such as headache, pins and needles, stomach pain, bloating, diarrhea, nausea and rash. Unfortunately, taking statins appears to be associated with a 36% increased risk of being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Eating grapefruit or drinking the juice is not recommended as this can increase statin levels in the bloodstream, only using simvastatin, atorvastatin or lovastatin.

Unfortunately, at this point I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that I clearly need to take them, but after talking to my doctor I know he won't make me take them, if I can, with good diet, regular exercise and keeping myself as stress free as possible, reduce my own incidence of cardiac effects

Of course, I didn't ONLY take information from the report. Since research is my second love after writing, all I had to do was go online to see what I could find from other sources.

One of them stated that after analyzing nearly 250,000 people, it was found that simvastatin and pravastatin have fewer side effects. Unfortunately, there is strong evidence that statins can cause weight gain and a slight increase in the risk of diabetes.

It is also recommended that you tell your doctor if you have unexpected muscle pain, tenderness, cramps or weakness.

However, they have also found that the benefits of taking statins far outweigh the risks.

Because my continued good health is important to me, I will at least continually monitor my progress toward medication freedom. But continue taking my statins unless and until proven to be detrimental to my continued good health.

Inspired by Hilary Green