Cholesterol. When to Medicate?

[Jon454]

32 W M, 5'9 150lbs. Hx of exercising regularly but not much in last several months. Want to get back into it regularly. No smoke no drink. Diet good at staying away from fried food and red meat. Longstanding Hx of white coat hypertension (~140/80) and rare PVC's, and currently on Propanolol xl 80mg, which keeps BP ~115/60 @ home and ~125/80 at Dr's. office. Just had repeat cholesterol testing, w/ HDL=45 and LDL=125. Triglycerides were really good, but don't recall the number. PMD is focusing on my 4.0 cholesterol ratio, saying I need to be at 3.0. He wants to add a med. but b4 he mentioned any one in particular, I said "slow down." Thoughts? He said my LDL is Ok, but I'm at a higher risk due to the really low HDL. He further said it's virtually impossible to alter HDL thorugh diet and exercise. I have no Hx of HD in my family and he said, "Well, you could be the index case."
Thank you for donating time to this forum. We all greatly appreciate it.
Jon

[Forum-M.D.-MJM]

Hi Jon,
In general, I would not start someone your cholesterol panel on a medication.  I think you will find this link very helpful.

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/prevention/cholesterol/cholesterolguidelines9_01.htm

It sounds like you only have one borderline risk factor (borderline hypertension).
Keep exercising and watch your diet -- but I would tell this to anyone.

Thanks for posting.