These days we as cardiologists lay utmost importance in lowering cholesterol to minimum possible levels. Cholesterol plays an important role in various systems.I have come across several CAD patients with very low cholesterol levels ( around 100) having memory lapses, especially elderly patients, and sexual problems, obviously young and middle aged ones. These are vague symptoms and are generally mentioned when one specifically asks for them, because patients pass them off as part of aging or as a sequelae of the cardiac episode.
This forces me to think as to why we should focus only on the heart and forget about the patient as a whole. I have often reduced or stopped statins in such cases, at times even increased the fat intake a bit, to bring the cholesterol to around 150 and found the patients' quality of life overall much better. Any comments or experiences from colleagues?
