Facts about Cholesterol for People over the Age of 60

If you have ever worried about your cholesterol levels or know someone who should take statins, then this article is special for you.

In 2016, a large study of around 70,000 people over the age of 60 showed that there is no link between LDL and cardiovascular disease, but on the contrary, those with the higher LDLs tended to live longer and healthier.

Having high cholesterol levels can be dangerous, but cholesterol is not bad in itself, in fact, it is a necessary element for the proper functioning of blood plasma, and performs a number of important functions.

Cholesterol is a lipid that is responsible for building and maintaining cell membranes and helps some hormones that play a key role in our body, such as estrogen or testosterone, synthesize vitamin C; all these functions are fundamental to our health.

As soon as your cholesterol levels exceed certain limits, and from a certain age, your doctor will prescribe you statins, some drugs designed to lower cholesterol. Its effectiveness for this purpose is widely proven and, in fact, reduce cardiovascular risk even in people with normal LDL levels.

The problem that more and more scientists are warning about is that statins have a series of side effects that need to be taken into account, such as various gastrointestinal problems, headache, insomnia and, most serious, muscular conditions such as myalgia.

This worries many doctors, who believe that statins should be prescribed based on the personal characteristics of each patient, and not immediately as soon as a person goes through the consultation with high cholesterol levels.

Although treatment with statins has shown benefits in people with existing vascular disease of less than 75 years, it is not effective in the management of cholesterol problems if the affected person does not have significant atherosclerosis manifested by having had a vascular event previously.

The only other case that it is important to lower cholesterol levels is if someone has a high coronary calcium score that places him at the 75th percentile of risk. But this risk factor will depend directly on the age of the patient.

For example, a 50-year-old man with a coronary calcium score higher than 50 would have significant atherosclerosis for such an early age. But if a 70-year-old has a coronary calcium score of 150, this is below the normal average for that age and it is not necessary to pay attention.

As we know, cholesterol anomalies are directly associated with the food we eat, for that reason the food you choose should be part of the management plan, regardless of whether you are already taking statins or not.

A healthy diet can have very profound effects and the results have come to reflect up to a 30% reduction in cholesterol levels in just 15 days. You can add some ingredients to your diet that will help reduce your cholesterol naturally.

Sometimes heart problems do not come with clear warning signs. Hence, it is advisable to be aware of possible early signs that could save lives. Click here to learn more.