Heart Disease Community

Hi:

"Are my cholesterol #s very bad?"

The basics/general info

American Heart Association - Live and Learn

What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean

To determine how your cholesterol levels affect your risk of heart disease, your doctor will also take into account other risk factors such as age, family history, smoking and high blood pressure.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=183

Cholesterol/lipid levels vary/fluctuate throughout the day

How To Get Your Cholesterol Tested

If you aren't fasting when the blood sample is drawn, only the values for total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol will be usable. That's because the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol level and triglycerides can be affected by what you've recently consumed.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=541

"5mg Zocor"

"Are there any side effects to this med?"

Statins are good for some individuals, bad (side effects/adverse reactions, such as memory loss, muscle aches/pains) for others. On an individualized case-by-case basis, the benefits of taking a statin must clearly outweigh the risks.

On the positive side, statins may/can stabilize vulnerable plaque (VP).

VP hides well-away within the vessel wall (essentially a 0% blockage, but still unequivocal atherosclerosis), can't even be seen with invasive X-ray angiography, causes no advance warning signs/symptoms, and is now recognized worldwide as the cause of the majority of heart attacks by way of plaque rupture causing a blood clot (thrombus).

Statins also have anti-inflammatory properties and as applicable to the patient, thus lowers C-reactive protein (CRP/hs-CRP). Inflammation is recognized as a major player in the development and progression of atherosclerosis.

Additionally, as reported, a risk factor merely increases the probability that one will develop cardiovascular disease, BUT doesn't 100% guarantee that one will develop it, nor does its absence (or even the absence of ALL known risk factors) 100% guarantee that one won't have a heart attack or brain attack.

Also, it is said that medicine is a science of uncertainty and an act of probability, and for many, prescription drug-therapy is a hit or miss, trial and error affair.

Side effects/adverse reactions can not be predicted or pre-determined. If/when side effects occur, this may/can diminish or disappear as the body adjusts itself to the drug, though sometimes, one will simply not be able to tolerate a certain drug (or drugs) at all, at any dose.

Factors and conditions such as age height, weight, gender, genetics and metabolism may/can come into play in determining who experiences side effects and who does not.

Pharmacogenomics, the study of the interplay between genes and drugs, helps to explain why prescription drugs have different effects in different individuals. Genetic variation in one or more genes may be the basis for a therapeutic failure or for an adverse drug reaction.

Without lowering the dosage (unless applicable), sometimes, taking a particular prescription drug at a different time of the day or taking it with food may/can improve the side effect-related situation.

Sometimes, changing to another same-class drug or taking a lower dose of the drug along with another class of drug (for a combo-action) may/can impove the side effect-related situation.

Keep ALL known modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease (which actually begins very early in life, even as early as in the pre-teen/teenage years) closely in-check.

Best of luck down the road of life.

Take care,

CardioStar*

WebMD member (since 8/99)



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Be a questioning patient. TALK to your DOCTOR and ASK QUESTIONS. Studies show that patients who ask the most questions, and are most assertive, get the best results. Be vigilant and speak up!"

- Charles Inlander, People's Medical Society

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It's your future......be there.

**Additional info**

Noteworthy, as reported, there are advanced blood tests, such as, NMR and VAP, that show the SIZE of one's cholesterol particles, providing detailed info that can help to determine if one should really be on a statin.

CardioStar*

Based on my numbers, does is sound like I SHOULD be on Zocor? I also take Zoloft, Seroquel, Zegerid. Is that ok to take with the Zocor?

Also, I have always been thin all my life but since taking Seroquel, have gained weight.

Thank you

......"does it sound like I SHOULD be on Zocor?"

Please read this from the prestigious Mayo Clinic and then discuss this particular matter with your doctor.

Statins: Are these cholesterol-lowering drugs right for you?

Find out whether your risk factors for heart disease make you a good candidate for statin therapy.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/statins/CL00010

......"is that ok to take with the Zocor?"

Drug Interactions Checker

http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.php

Take good care,

CardioStar*

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Be a questioning patient. TALK to your DOCTOR and ASK QUESTIONS. Studies show that patients who ask the most questions, and are most assertive, get the best results. Be vigilant and speak up!"

- Charles Inlander, People's Medical Society

.

It's your future......be there.

. .

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WebMD does not endorse any specifc product, service or treatment.