High LDL, do I need to take medicine?
A sugar friend asked me that she and her wife had just finished a physical examination, and both of them had elevated LDL. Her is 2.2, her wife is 3.2, the doctor didn't let the wife with higher indicators take medicine, but let her take medicine? Is that the right thing to do? Don't you take medicine?
The preliminary judgment of the doctor's approach is reasonable. Because she is diabetic and has cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis, the control should be stricter; LDL over 1.8 should be used. And ordinary people can do without medication as long as it does not exceed 3.4.
High in LDL, which hurts blood vessels the most
LDL is a bad cholesterol that can be very damaging to blood vessels. It is the main factor in the formation of vascular plaque, and the detachment of vascular plaque is a blood clot, which can easily cause blood vessel blockage. To put it simply, this bad cholesterol is the raw material of blood clots, just like the scale in the water pipe, and the water pipe is easy to block if there is more scale. In addition, it also accelerates arteriosclerosis, causing the walls of blood vessels to become hard and brittle, and easy to rupture when blood pressure rises.
To put it simply, once LDL is elevated, blood vessel blockage begins; In addition to testing blood lipids, there are several signs of blockage in blood vessels.
4 signs of clogged blood vessels
1. Get up early and get drowsy, and get sleepy after eating; The symptoms of drowsiness caused by high blood lipids are more serious, especially in the morning after waking up, but at night when you are very awake; There is also sleepiness after eating, and you must sleep for a while, otherwise you will be dizzy and unconscious; These are all caused by poor blood circulation.
2. There is no lack of calcium, but often leg pain and cramps; When it comes to cramps, the first thing that comes to mind is calcium deficiency, but some people are not deficient in calcium. At this time, it is likely that the blood lipids are high, the blood vessels are blocked, and the oxygen supply capacity to the calves, feet and other limb ends is reduced.
3. The eyes see things sometimes blurry and sometimes clear; Sometimes the eyes see clearly, sometimes blurry, which may be due to an increase in LDL, increased blood viscosity, and poor blood flow leading to retinal ischemia, resulting in blurred vision in the eyes.
4. Skin pigmentation or pigmentation becomes larger; Middle-aged and elderly women should pay more attention to this, when they find that large spots suddenly appear on their hands and face, or the original pigmentation becomes larger and darker, it may be a sign of increased blood lipids.
LDL high medication standards
If LDL is elevated, when is it recommended to take lipid-lowering drugs?
1. For normal people, LDL is more than 3.4, and it is recommended to consider medication. Because the increase in LDL is mainly due to its own cause, it is difficult to reduce it even with strict lifestyle management such as diet and exercise, so it is recommended to take medication as soon as possible.
2. High-risk groups of cardiovascular diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, even if there is no cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, low-density lipoprotein more than 2.6 should be used.
3. Patients with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases such as arteriosclerosis are recommended to take drugs with LDL more than 1.8.
Early use of lipid-lowering drugs in these two groups of patients has two benefits; The first is to reduce blood lipids and let LDL reach the target as soon as possible; The second is to protect blood vessels, stabilize plaques, and avoid blood vessel plaques from falling off and forming blood clots.
Statins are preferred
control of low-density lipoprotein, statin lipid-lowering drugs are preferred; It is recommended to choose third-generation statins, atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, pitavastatin; They are powerful lipid-lowering drugs, which are stronger, more effective, and safer.
1. Rosuvastatin has the best lipid-lowering effect, if your LDL is relatively high and you need to greatly reduce blood lipids, rosuvastatin can be preferred, followed by atorvastatin.
2. Rosuvastatin has the least impact on the liver, if you are worried about long-term medication damage to the liver, it is best to choose rosuvastatin.
3. Atorvastatin has the least impact on the kidneys, atorvastatin is recommended for poor kidney function, and rosuvastatin is recommended for poor liver function.
4. If you want to have a good lipid-lowering effect, statins should reach moderate intensity; atorvastatin 10 to 20 mg per day, rosuvastatin 5 to 10 mg, pitavastatin 2 to 4 mg per day; This dose can reduce LDL by 30-50%.
5. If the effect of moderate-intensity statin is still not satisfactory, it is better not to add the medicine and change the dressing. Because even if the dose of the drug is doubled, the lipid-lowering effect will only increase by 6%, and the side effects will be doubled. For example, 20 mg of atorvastatin does not work well, do not increase the dose; It is best to switch to rosuvastatin 10 mg.