>>>>>>>Unless I see/read results of the scientific study that high cholesterol does not pose a risk, what John is saying is simply his opinion. And you know what they say about opinions :)
>>>>>
>>>>>Tamar and Dorris have the flavor of what I was suggesting. Doubting Dmitrys might consider articles such as this by a Harvard professor http://www.bmj.com/content/347/bmj.f6123 that argue that antistatins do not affect mortality for most of the population. FWIW, this article itself now is under attack.
>>>>>
>>>>>The issue is that today's truth can be tomorrow's fable. Facts about the human body are not decreed by parliament, learned judges or pharmaceutical companies, they are set by God and altered by things we do to ourselves, while practitioners peer at complex issues through a glass darkly. And the problem with focusing only on a blood test reading is that it can give credence to logic along the lines of "the treatment was a success though the patient died." Outcomes of treatment go well beyond the particular blood test or organ system IMHO.
>>>>
>>>>I guess if Tamar's or Dorris' husbands get a blood test results showing high level of cholesterol (which I do not wish them at all), they could suggest to the husbands NOT TO WORRY and not to take antistatins since "human body are not decreed by parliament, learned judges or pharmaceutical companies, they are set by God and altered by things we do to ourselves, while practitioners peer at complex issues through a glass darkly."
>>>
>>>Dmitry-forget your particular situation. Forget even cholesterol. The issue is the idea that there's something we can measure and we've learned that people who have a high value for it die earlier than those who don't. We've found some drugs that lower that value, but that doesn't prove that taking those drugs makes people live longer. There's at least some evidence that the drugs make no difference.
>>>
>>>No one is telling you to stop taking your statin. Just suggesting that you keep your ears open as research continues.
>>>
>>>Tamar
>>
>>This sub-section of the thread started with John’s arrogant comment about antistatins and no other drug. Now you and John are craftily dancing out of the initial point: he, again, arrogantly thinking that we, simple folk, don’t know the difference between HDL and LDL; and you, moving the questions to more general discussion on prescription drugs. John probably has a medical degree but it does not make him an authority on every medical topic (and for all we know he could be a medical software consultant). You are not a doctor but your last sentence “No one is telling you to stop taking your statin. Just suggesting that you keep your ears open as research continues” sounds just as arrogant as his comments. I do listen to technical suggestions on UT but not medical advice :)
>
>First, yes, John is an MD.
>
>As for specific vs. general, in fact, there is a broad issue here about whether treatments (not just drugs) are tackling the right thing. Right now, statins are getting looked at from that perspective, but I've heard similar issues in other medical areas as well.
>
>I'm sorry my message sounded arrogant to you. I didn't intend it that way.
>
>Tamar

It is ok; no harm done. As far someone (John or anybody else being MD), I know a guy who works at a major hospitals network (in Boston) as a web master. When I met him (many years ago when he was helping me to install my first ASP.NET app) I saw that his badge said M.D. I asked him if he was a medical doctor and he said Yes. I didn't want to press him as to why he was (and still is) working as a web master. But I certainly wouldn't ask him for a medical advice.