To Lower Or Not To Lower?

We were having dinner just before our monthly meeting and during the consumption of our food, the topic of high cholesterol happened to crop up. One of the members who happened to be an orthopaedic surgeon kept emphasizing on the importance of monitoring the cholesterol level and more importantly, doing something about it - namely taking prescribed medication and adjusting our lifestyle to help lower the LDL and increase the HDL. He kept on harping the fact that it would be too late to do anything after one has had a stroke. Prevention is always the better strategy.

My good orthodontist friend tried to get the surgeon to declare at what level would he consider the need for medication. At this point I mentioned that mine was at 7.5 and I am taking medication. My doctor has prescribed to me 'Ezetrol' as the statin drugs were giving me problems.

I do believe the surgeon has a good point. When one has reached the age of 50, we need to be more conscious of the status of our body, both internal and external. We need to exercise and if possible do some weight lifting to tone and strengthen the muscles. Internal care includes taking supplements and medication prescribed by the doctor after the regular checkups. It is not wise to prescribe herbal medicine for yourself as you would never know what will happen as one of our friends at the table found out. He had rashes all over his body from taking medicine bought from a medicine shop for lowering cholesterol.

This is not unusual over in Asia as quite a number of people have their own remedies passed down from their grandmothers and grandfathers. Even my good friend was taking some concoction made by her mother! I think the surgeon's reminder was a timely one for the others. I started testing my blood some 8 years ago and changed my lifestyle based on the results besides learning that I had the H factor to deal with. H for hereditary. Somethings you can't change but with modern medicine you can keep it in check for as long as is possible.