The state of cardiology.

I hate doctors. I have a history of atherosclerosis. I had 5 bypasses over 20 years ago. I've had a couple of heart catheterizations, an ablation and angioplasty. Physical fitness has been a big part of my life. All American Fitness Award in high school. 3 years military. Racquetball tournaments, basketball, running, etc. It didn't save me from my genetics. Father and older brother heart attacks, uncles all had bypasses in the late 30s, early 40s. No one lived to be 60. I've been on statins for over 20 years. They keep my cholesterol very low. There is another body of thought on statins and I have subscribed to it. I visited my cardio office last year. I was told by one of the staff they would like to double my statin dose. Why, I asked? You can't have too low LDL was the answer. I recently read a trial of 375,000 people and those with the lowest LDL had the highest mortality, so yes you can have too low LDL. I decided then and there to stop my statin therapy. The absolute number of deaths prevented by taking statins in a secondary population (those who have already suffered one cardiac event) is .,9%. That's less than one life saved per 100 statin users. There are other issues to consider such as side effects. Type 2 diabetes, dementia, muscle pain and weakness, etc. I was not consulted about any of them before the decision was made to double my statin dose, and I am borderline pre diabetic and I'm starting to have difficulty finding words. So I lose almost 40 lbs when I visit the cardio office last year. This time I see a physician with a background in internal medicine. (not a cardio, though my copay is $35 because its a cardio office.) He says he is disappointed I quit my statin as I had just reached my LDL goal. I wish I had thought to ask him why he would double my statin if I had met my goal, but I didn't. No one noticed my weight loss. Last week was my annual checkup. The medical assistant had taken my blood pressure and it was the best it has ever been at 116/70. The doctor made no notice of it. I did put the weight back on. He told me since he wasn't managing my cholesterol with statins and I refused to take a blood thinner, he was going to discharge me from cardio care. I said fine. He posted a clinical note on my health page noting my abdomen was soft - obese. LOL. I guess he is interested in my weight after all. He never offered to prescribe me anything for it. Cadio care costs us many billions annually. Heart disease remains the number one cause of death. Death by Heart Disease has gone down somewhat over the decades, but nothing to write home about. Over the past few years, cardio deaths have actually increased. Big Pharma plays with statistics to make it sound like taking their meds reduce your risk of heart attack by 25-37%. That's all nonsense. I repeat the mortality figure for users of statins. .6% lives saved if you haven't had a cardio event. .9% lives saved if you have had a previous cardio event. Now factor in the side effects and ask yourself...are statins miracle drugs? To cardiologists, they are. Here is a quote from a recent study by Stanford Medicine "Stents, bypass surgery show no benefit in heart disease mortality rates among stable patients." Oh, and during my last catheterization, the cardiologist was going to put a stent in my coronary artery, but he didn't have the proper size available so he did an angioplasty (ballooned me) instead. Guaranteeing me I would be a repeat customer down the road. Proper diet, and exercise. Control your blood pressure and minimize inflammation.(something as simple as brushing your teeth.) If you've read this, I apologize.

Yes, very frustrating. I am medical advocate for my ex who has diabetes, ischemic cardiomyopathy, emphysema from smoking. Phoenix is building a medical school and Mayo here is expanding, but it is going to take at least 5 years to have decent medical facilities here. Meanwhile it's little old me with only my degree in library science to rely on. We have a good gp but we cant be over there every day. My ex has a Medicare PPO plan which is excellent, but the doctors here keep moving around. Very hard to get in with any pulmonologist and many practices dont even answer the phone (leave a message). We retire here from LA, made a lot on our house, but lucky to be alive with the sub par medical care. They had better start giving better incentives for going to medical and nursing school. Hang in there!