cholesterol

Would you recommend Lipitor for the following patient?

Female, age 66,No CVD risk factors[smoking, obesity, high blood pressure,etc.}
exercises regularly and eats a very healthy diet( Her husband is a retired college professor of Nutrition and fitness}
Her Lipid profile is:
Homocysteine: 9
HS-CRP: 1.94
Totral Cholesterol 250,HDL 69-77{last 2 years},LDL150, Trig 157

In my search about Statins I have become skeptical about its use. It seems the pharmacuetical companies are driving the low LDL craze. In an email from Dr. Antonio Gotto, he places much more emphasis of HDL and says when Pitzer's patent is up they plan to push HDL drugs(ijf they can). I also received an email from Dr. Kilmer McCulley, who discovered the connection between Homocystein and CVD.   He is much more skeptical than I and feels arterial inflamation (inflammation), not choesterol is the problem.  For older people , especially women, a high cholestereol is associated with lower mortality.
I obviously lean to focusing on a healthy lifestyle as opposed to statins.  Keeping an open mind I would very much appriciate your take on the situation as well as your second opinion on my wife.

[Douglas Bogart, MD]

You can calculate your wife's Framingham risk score which takes into account the risk factors (or lack there of) and both the HDL and LDL and gives a 10 year risk of cardiac risk.  While I don't have all the data it would appear her risk score will be low and if it is --no statins.