At 72, Kaiser Permanente was concerned that my cholesterol was above 200. On the other hand my blood pressure, is usually down below 110 over 65, or occasionally slightly higher. They asked if I wanted to take Lipitor. My response was that my grandfather lived to be 98, one of his sisters lived to 103 (she was a jolly person), and her other sisters died in their middle to upper 90s. My father who did not quit smoking until 87 died at 90 (after he had a stroke), and my mother died at 89 from congestive heart failure when the pig valve they inserted for her bad mitral valve 10 years earlier failed. All but one of her 5 brothers and sisters died in their 90s.
Since I don’t have a bad heart valve, have never smoked, don’t have a bad temper like my father, get more exercise than my mother and eat very healthy food, I said “no thanks”. I hope I did the right thing. I just wish I knew what my grandfather’s cholesterol levels were like.
I’ve only seen one centenarian doctor. :’)