My cardiologist is 65 (I'm 58). He suggested I take a statin. When he ran the numbers (height, weight, age) we both had a 7.5% chance of a heart attack in the next 10 years. I wasn't real keen on the idea, so I asked him if he was taking a statin. He said no. My colesterol is only 181 (down from 231 when I first visited him a year and a half ago), and the LDL is in the range suggested. Just cleaned up my diet a little bit and I passed on his suggestion to take one.
My bad cholesterol is a bit high, but the “good” stuff is very low, so my overall score is low.
The neurologist gave me a prescription for baby aspirin and also some Atorvastation. He said that with the way we American’s eat (he was Indian/Asian) we should all be on statins.
After looking into it a bit more and talking with my doc, I'm just taking the aspirin (when I remember). My mother-in-law took statins for awhile and she said she was much more forgetful - she got spooked she was getting Alzheimer's! She heard from others and quit the statins, and is fine now.
I do keep telling myself to eat a little better and get more exercise.
She takes something else - some fruit or something.