Cholesterol Archive

Don't let misconceptions about these medications prevent you from taking them. 

A small percentage of people who take cholesterol-lowering statins complain of muscle pain. This side effect, known as myalgia, may lead people to stop taking their medications, thereby missing out on the protection statins offer against heart attacks. Another concern is that myalgia might also cause muscle weakness, possibly increasing the risk of injuries, especially in older adults. But according to a small study in the Oct. 15, 2014, American Journal of Cardiology, statin-associated myalgia does not seem to affect muscle strength.

For the study, researchers measured muscle strength and self-reported physical activity in 11 people with a history of statin-associated muscle pain. Four people currently taking statins were tested initially and then again after two months off the medication. The other seven people, who were not taking statins at the start of the study, were tested initially and again after two months of restarting statins, or when their muscle complaints returned.

Egg consumption can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Are eggs bad for your heart? For years, men have gotten the message that they should go easy on the eggs-over-easy. But the evidence to date doesn't say you should ban eggs from your plate. In most studies so far, "an egg a day does not have a negative impact on health," says Eric Rimm, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health.

If one of your parents or siblings has peripheral artery disease (PAD), you're nearly twice as likely to get this painful leg condition than a person with no family history of the disease. That's according to a study in the Sept. 15, 2014, American Journal of Cardiology that included nearly 6,700 adults, one-third of whom were diagnosed with PAD. The increased familial risk for PAD held true even after researchers adjusted for other factors that make PAD more likely, such as smoking and a poor diet. And the risk of PAD rose along with the number of affected relatives a person had. The classic sign of PAD is calf or thigh pain while walking—the result of cholesterol-laden deposits in the arteries of the legs.

If PAD runs in your family and you notice leg pain when you walk, ask your doctor about testing, which involves simple, noninvasive blood pressure and blood flow tests in your thighs and ankles. If testing reveals a blockage, a walking regimen and medications are the first-line treatment. More serious cases may require artery-opening angioplasty and stenting or surgery.

By lowering your blood LDL ("bad") cholesterol level, even if it is normal, you help reduce your chances of having a heart attack. It's especially important if the LDL level is above 130 milligrams per deciliter. For every 10% drop in your cholesterol level, your heart attack risk potentially falls by 20% to 30%.

There are several steps you can take to lower your cholesterol level, like losing weight if needed, being more active, and choosing healthy foods. Here are three simple steps toward a healthier, cholesterol-lowering diet:

Trans fats and saturated fats can raise LDL cholesterol levels. A diet rich in unsaturated fats, whole grains, and fruits and vegetables can lower them.

Q. Are eggs bad for your health, or not? I hear different things about them.

A. I was taught—first by my parents, and then in medical school—that you should eat eggs infrequently. The reason? Egg yolk contains lots of cholesterol, so eggs would raise your blood cholesterol levels and increase your risk of heart disease. Seemed reasonable, so I reserved eggs for Sunday mornings only.

Using niacin to raise "good" cholesterol doesn't lower your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

Emerging evidence suggests that high triglycerides play a bigger role in heart disease than previously thought.

When you have a test to measure the fats in your blood (known as a lipid panel), the two numbers that get the most attention are the levels of your low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or "bad" cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or "good" cholesterol. High levels of LDL (as well as low levels of HDL) track closely with the artery-clogging process at the root of most cases of coronary artery disease. But triglycerides—the most common type of fat both in food and in the bloodstream—are often an afterthought, mostly because their relevance to cardiovascular disease has been uncertain.

If you're taking a cholesterol-lowering statin, don't use it as an excuse to slack off on your diet and sneak in extra calories and fat. Apparently, that's what statin users have done in recent years, according to a JAMA Internal Medicine study that looked at diet records from nearly 28,000 adults over a 12-year period.

People who took statins ate 10% more calories and 14% more fat during 2009–2010 than they did in 1999–2000. No such increases were seen in people who were not taking statins, the researchers found. Among statin users, body mass index (BMI) scores rose an average of 1.3 points, which translates to about 9 pounds of weight gain over a decade.