While these are known as"classic symptoms," Hazen notes they are typically very mild.
Only hydrochlorothiazide[Microzide]
is associated with potential for secondary hyperlipidemia," says Hazen, and this is also rare.
Hazen says doing so will almost always do the
trick, whether it's lowering the statin dose or reducing its frequency.
Some muscle pain can be more serious, but Hazen says most muscle pain, along with liver toxicity, is rare.
Over-the-counter nutritional supplements, vitamins, and herbs are an option, but Hazen asserts that they're generally not the best choice.
The benefit of statins
is so important for heart health, Hazen stresses, that those with high cholesterol should not abandon their medication.
Studies have definitively proven that most common hormone replacement therapy forms are not protective for cardiovascular
disease in people without known CVD,” says Hazen.
As the director of preventive cardiology and rehabilitation for the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Hazen realized that testing for high cholesterol indicates
only the possibility of heart disease, not the probability.
Beta blockers While beta blockers generally
do not increase cholesterol levels in most people, they can cause what's known as secondary hyperlipidemia(increased blood fats) in a very small number of individuals, says Hazen.
When I first meet Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., with his
short, Lou Albano build, I can't help but think that he might want to get out of the lab and invest a little more sweat equity in his own cardiac health.
Indeed, Hazen continues, the most commonly used forms of hormone
therapy(typically estrogen alone or a combination of estrogen and progestin) do not stop the progression of heart disease in women who have already been diagnosed with CVD or in healthy women with no CVD.