high cholesterol
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high cholesterol
Just had class 1 renewall, being over 40 now, they took my lipids and found my cholesterol to be rather high. Have made an appointment with my GP to have another test. Does anybody know if statins are required to lower my cholesterol, is it an approved medication as far as the CAA are concerned?
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Not everyone has any side effects at all except for gradually clearing arteries. That's one of the advantages of long term statin use. Crestor, which is one of the best of them used not to be available on the NHS because it costs a little more but then has less side effects. You could start by taking 5mg of that daily and watching your diet or take 10mg daily and eat what you like.
Almost for certain though, the CAA produce their own list of approved brand name statins for pilot consumption but your AME should have access to that information?
Almost for certain though, the CAA produce their own list of approved brand name statins for pilot consumption but your AME should have access to that information?
Life of Riley, everyone has a "cholesterol level."
In combination with other factors, (age, gender, whether or not you smoke, your blood pressure, whether or not you have diabetes, your family history and a few other things the details of which escape me at this moment), we use this level, to calculate the risk of you dropping dead of a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years. You could have a high level, but when other factors are taken into concideration, it may not be much of an issue. (and vice versa). We use a spreadsheet. (Have a look at "Sheffield Tables" and "Framingham.")- there's loads of stuff on the NICE website to.
The science behind identification 'aint that robust.
Depending on the level of risk, depends on the treatment we offer. Sometimes the treatment consists of just dietary advice, sometimes the level of risk is so great, that a chemical agent (usually a medicine known as a "statin,") is required.
Statin's are not without their problems, (effects on muscles and the liver seem to be the dangerous ones, efects on the tummy seem to be the more frequent ones.)
I'm sure gordon field's advice is well meant, but I'm not sure how qualified his opinion is, and I suspect google isn't always your best friend. I'd be the first to raise suspicion of the claims of drugs companies, but the evidence is overwhelming, these medicines do seem to save lives. So much so, that some of us are of the opinion we should add them to the water !
Let us know how you get on, if your risk figure is borderline (20% ish), you could opt to try some lifestyle changes ( apologies for the assumption) such as losing weight, cutting down on the goodies, truly eating "5 a day" and eating oily fish 3 times a week.
Let us know how you get on.
PS, the advice is different if you have established disease (you've had your heart attack) or if your levels are massively out of kilter (you'll already have some idea something is wrong because your male blood line will only be remembered through photo's)
In combination with other factors, (age, gender, whether or not you smoke, your blood pressure, whether or not you have diabetes, your family history and a few other things the details of which escape me at this moment), we use this level, to calculate the risk of you dropping dead of a heart attack or stroke in the next ten years. You could have a high level, but when other factors are taken into concideration, it may not be much of an issue. (and vice versa). We use a spreadsheet. (Have a look at "Sheffield Tables" and "Framingham.")- there's loads of stuff on the NICE website to.
The science behind identification 'aint that robust.
Depending on the level of risk, depends on the treatment we offer. Sometimes the treatment consists of just dietary advice, sometimes the level of risk is so great, that a chemical agent (usually a medicine known as a "statin,") is required.
Statin's are not without their problems, (effects on muscles and the liver seem to be the dangerous ones, efects on the tummy seem to be the more frequent ones.)
I'm sure gordon field's advice is well meant, but I'm not sure how qualified his opinion is, and I suspect google isn't always your best friend. I'd be the first to raise suspicion of the claims of drugs companies, but the evidence is overwhelming, these medicines do seem to save lives. So much so, that some of us are of the opinion we should add them to the water !
Let us know how you get on, if your risk figure is borderline (20% ish), you could opt to try some lifestyle changes ( apologies for the assumption) such as losing weight, cutting down on the goodies, truly eating "5 a day" and eating oily fish 3 times a week.
Let us know how you get on.
PS, the advice is different if you have established disease (you've had your heart attack) or if your levels are massively out of kilter (you'll already have some idea something is wrong because your male blood line will only be remembered through photo's)
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Thanks for all of your advice, I am seeing my gp next week and having some fasting lipids done. I have already changed my diet, eating the anti-cholesterol super foods and taking lots more exercise. It will be interesting to if my levels have changed over the three weeks since my last test.
Thanks again.
Thanks again.
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Common sense would think a healthy diet would be enough, but not for all people. Some people have hereditary issues which diet and exercise alone cannot overcome. If you have a family history of this type of problem, then you need to watch this closely with a well planned diet and exercise program along with doctor prescribed medicine.
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Beware. If you still have relatively high cholesterol.
Familial hyper cholesterimia.
I had high cholesterol and went to my gp after my class 1. He put all my data into his NHs calculator and said my risk factor was not high enough even though i was on a low chol diet therefore did not need treating. Less than 3 years later I had a heart attack and lost my class one but thankfully not my life.
I now take statins, a bit stiffer these days but a low cholesterol level.
Don't fall into the same trap.
Familial hyper cholesterimia.
I had high cholesterol and went to my gp after my class 1. He put all my data into his NHs calculator and said my risk factor was not high enough even though i was on a low chol diet therefore did not need treating. Less than 3 years later I had a heart attack and lost my class one but thankfully not my life.
I now take statins, a bit stiffer these days but a low cholesterol level.
Don't fall into the same trap.
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My recent blood screening results were all normal and cholestrol not even mentioned by the doc when I got my results - just a double check on my glucose which proved normal and a suggestion to give her a buzz. When I did call her she explained that my glucose was just over but now normal with my second check. I then asked if all else was okay and she mentioned that it was but my cholestrol was above normal - she then went on to say that they had "moved the goalposts recently" and I would have been normal at 5.8 but now not now however yet she wasn't overly concerned and then gave me some diet advice. At 50 definitely taking more notice!
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Está servira para distraerle.
What's in a strand of fat?
In South Africa where a diet rich in meat, fruit and vegetables is the norm for those who can afford it, the top of the range for total cholesterol is 4.9. It seems as though any failure to reduce a cholesterol reading to a proximate level within six months or so results in statins being prescribed for the patient.
It also seems as though many of the reported side effects of statins are obviated because of the quality of statins available in South Africa which are not permitted in Britain under the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) financial constraints.
The philosophy in South Africa, generally speaking, seems to favour quite aggressive preventative medicine. There is a distinct emphasis on early diagnosis which can lead, as in the case of bowel cancer, to routine colonoscopies and endoscopies being used as diagnostic tools long before symptoms of that cancer require such examination by which time, large sections of the intestines may have to be removed. The climate too dictates that dermatological examinations are conducted at reasonable intervals either by a GP or a dermatologist and that is a sensible requirement for all skin colours.
In South Africa where a diet rich in meat, fruit and vegetables is the norm for those who can afford it, the top of the range for total cholesterol is 4.9. It seems as though any failure to reduce a cholesterol reading to a proximate level within six months or so results in statins being prescribed for the patient.
It also seems as though many of the reported side effects of statins are obviated because of the quality of statins available in South Africa which are not permitted in Britain under the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) financial constraints.
The philosophy in South Africa, generally speaking, seems to favour quite aggressive preventative medicine. There is a distinct emphasis on early diagnosis which can lead, as in the case of bowel cancer, to routine colonoscopies and endoscopies being used as diagnostic tools long before symptoms of that cancer require such examination by which time, large sections of the intestines may have to be removed. The climate too dictates that dermatological examinations are conducted at reasonable intervals either by a GP or a dermatologist and that is a sensible requirement for all skin colours.
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Statins are usually allowed under mil rules so I would expect CAA to be OK as well. They may, however, require you to have a period off flying P1 until it has been established that you haven't got severe side effects. A bit of stiffness is usually bearable but very painful muscles is rather different. Check with your AME or your licence issuing authority if there is a specific list of approved statins. It may not be the same as the list your GP has!
In my experience statins are no problem with the CAA
Muscle pains occur over time and are not debilitating. Liver issues are picked up on blood tests initially at 6 months which is why statins need to be prescribed. However they are outstanding. They reduce the risk of sudden death in those with normal risk, reduce risk in patients with increase factors for cardiovascular disease, may reduce cancer of colon and Alzheimer's. The more we know the more the benefits become clear. That is why many doctors with normal cholesterol levels are on statins. Conspiracies apart, there can be few better recommendations
If you get side effects the drug can be discontinued usually without long term sequelae
Muscle pains occur over time and are not debilitating. Liver issues are picked up on blood tests initially at 6 months which is why statins need to be prescribed. However they are outstanding. They reduce the risk of sudden death in those with normal risk, reduce risk in patients with increase factors for cardiovascular disease, may reduce cancer of colon and Alzheimer's. The more we know the more the benefits become clear. That is why many doctors with normal cholesterol levels are on statins. Conspiracies apart, there can be few better recommendations
If you get side effects the drug can be discontinued usually without long term sequelae
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I've been blessed with the low chostelerol gene so I'm one of
the lucky buggers, but mates who've blown the lid all report
better numbers just by sticking to 2 meals of rabbit food per
day and easing up on the booze and exchanging red plonk for
beer where possible - and of course aerobic exercise.
the lucky buggers, but mates who've blown the lid all report
better numbers just by sticking to 2 meals of rabbit food per
day and easing up on the booze and exchanging red plonk for
beer where possible - and of course aerobic exercise.
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Only inasmuch as those with lower cholesterol are probably not eating and drinking absolutely everything and anything that the higher cholesterol brigade on statins are consuming. Those, that is, who have the higher tolerance to statins to be able to take a sufficiently high dose of the little cholesterol cleansing bombers to offset the excess consumption which in turn leads to comfortable digestive contentment and a longer life?
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Isn't low cholesterol associated with higher overall mortality rates?
Seriously - I average about 3.4 on the Richter scale and am
still alive half a censh after birth. Can't say I've ever done a
thing to deserve such a reading (the missus does put me on
a rabbit food diet to make me lose weight but chostelerol is
not taken into account. Besides even if she didn't my reading
would still be the same based on my mmol thingy history).
There was a paper showing a higher mortality due to suicide in patients with low cholesterol but my recollection is that these were patients on silly diets and not on statins. I have never seen the data confirmed.
You guys can eat rabbit food if you wish, and obviously high fibre low fat food is better for you than a fry up but although your risk may fall, the bottom line is that whatever your cholesterol reading, statins will reduce your risk of death.
That is why statins seem to be beneficial regardless of your reading
You guys can eat rabbit food if you wish, and obviously high fibre low fat food is better for you than a fry up but although your risk may fall, the bottom line is that whatever your cholesterol reading, statins will reduce your risk of death.
That is why statins seem to be beneficial regardless of your reading