I’m slim, eat healthy and exercise regularly. However, my cholesterol has risen to 6.1 and my GP has told me I have a 14 percent chance of having a stroke or heart attack within the next 10 years. They recommend me to take a statin. The risk is low, but is it really necessary?
My husband took a statin and his muscles became sore. I have fibromyalgia and I don’t want any more pain.
Sandra McKinnon, Watford, Hearts.
You have clearly been assessed using the QRisk3 calculator. It involves inputting data about the patient, such as age, gender, ethnicity, blood pressure and weight, and an algorithm calculates the likelihood of having a heart attack or stroke within the next 10 years.
At 14%, the risk is moderate, and guidelines recommend that people with a score of 10 or higher be given cholesterol-lowering drugs, or statins.
In my opinion, at your level of risk, the decision to take a statin (usually for life) depends on a balance of opinion about the established benefits and potential side effects.
This decision may include thinking about other options to help reduce risk.
The guidelines recommend cholesterol-lowering drugs for people who score 10 or higher on the QRisk3 calculator.
For example, for overweight people, it helps to lose weight. In addition, daily physical exercise. Mediterranean-type diet (lower intake of animal fats and more legumes, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and olive oil). Regular sleep patterns. no smoking. and meditation have all been shown to lower cholesterol levels independent of taking medication.
Your letter prompted me to calculate my own risk percentage and I was surprised to find that it was 10.2, much higher than I expected.
You consider 14 percent to be low risk, but I feel like 10.2 percent is rather high. In fact, if he had a 10.2% chance of winning the EuroMillions in tonight’s draw, he would go to bed pretty excited.
Don’t worry, I’m on statins myself. You cannot be forced to take it, and there are other options.
Could my vision problems be related to a fall I had almost a year ago?
Almost a year ago, I fell into a metal mailbox and cut my head. The location of the wound was just above the hairline. I had 13 stitches in A&E and had a scan. All worth noting.
However, even after a year, the remaining blood seems to have penetrated into the eye cavity, causing dark circles under the eyes and a certain “lump” on the forehead. The last two times I’ve had vision problems in my left eye. Can these be connected?
Jackie Godfrey, London.
A head injury like the one you describe can cause a lot of bleeding and can tear one of the veins just under the skin.
The scalp doesn’t have much fat under the skin, meaning it has little cushioning, so the impact didn’t fracture the skull, but the blood vessels are less protected than other parts of the body.
This means that there is likely a large amount of blood collecting between the skin and the bone, something called a hematoma.
These can become very large, but over time the body’s repair mechanisms reduce the amount of clotted blood. After a few months, all that remains in your case is a scar-like lump under the seam that will probably never fully resolve.
And as you might have guessed, the rest of the blood slowly came out around each eye socket.
My feeling is that at this late stage your visual impairment is unlikely to be related to the cut on your head.
We recommend that you consult an optician and have it examined.
The vitreous gel in the posterior chamber may have regressed or there may be other causes of the symptoms.
Write to Dr Scurr at Good Health, Daily Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email: [email protected]. Dr. Scar is unable to conduct personal communications. If you have any health concerns, please consult your physician.
General medical care requires a nutritionist
One solution to the primary care crisis is to expand the role of support staff such as physiotherapists, pharmacists, psychologists, and nurses.
Surprisingly, the introduction of primary care networks, which employ a variety of professions under additional role reimbursement schemes and bring together general practitioners and other health professionals working on chronic diseases, has increased rapidly. With the implementation, there is indeed funding available for additional staff.
Oddly, nutritionists do not seem to be involved, which is surprising given the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
I declare my interest. I’m married to a dietitian, and if we want to reduce the pressure on GPs and the number of patients battling chronic disease, employing a dietitian in every practice seems like an obvious step.
Why didn’t anyone think of this?
