Rethinking cholesterol and the overuse of health care services

There have been some interesting publications recently on the subject of cholesterol.

A few weeks ago, Business Week's cover story discussed cholesterol and its linkage, if any, to heart disease. The conclusion was that there is little to gain by taking pills for life unless high cholesterol and heart disease co-exist. Reducing cholesterol just doesn't seem, for most people, to cause much reduction in future heart disease.

Yesterday, in the Wall Street Journal, there was a really disturbing article about memory problems in women who are taking statins.

My cholesterol is borderline high so, a few years back, my doctor prescribed Lipitor. I filled the prescription and, when I got home, I read the instructions. After I got to the bit that says: "drink grapefruit juice and die", I threw away the pills.

We are a "can do" nation and we like to believe that there is a solution to everything. While this attitude generally serves us well, there are times when there really is nothing useful that can be done.

We have been trained to regard a doctor's office visit that does not result in a prescription, the scheduling of tests or a procedure, as a failed visit. Something must be done is our attitude. "It will get better in a week - by itself "or "there really is nothing useful that can be done" are not statements that we want to hear from our doctors.

The British have three magic words that are worth considering: best not treated. Balancing the potential side effects and the real benefits needs to be done more thoroughly.

So, let's save money and reduce the overuse of marginally effective treatments. We will avoid a lot of ugly and painful side effects too.