Do i really need to be on cholesterol lowering medication? blood work indicates total cholesterol 261, ldl143, hdl 107. triglycerides are 44. i am not overweight and am an endurance athlete, female, 48 years old. doctor wants to put me on meds!

Need To Know More: If your doctor determines you have high or moderate cardiovascular risk your will need to consider meds. Also, k not all high hdl-c states are cardioprotective. Measuring LDL and HDL particle number (ldl-p and hdl-p) would be helpful in determining the need for treatment since ldl-c and hdl-c are often poor measures of true LDL and HDL quantity.

Since I don't know: You, i can't offer complete opinion. May depend on other risk factors for chd like high vldl, family hx, diabetes, high bp. Based just on lipid profile, i would tend to not prescribe rx. I don't use total cholesterol as much as entire profile. Your LDL is borderline (<130-140 ideal) but high HDL is protective. ?Vldl. Check thyroid-if low can ^ldl. But also eval diet for trans & sat fat intake.

Other risk factors?: 2 or more of: family history, high blood pressure, cigarette smoking (also age &gt;55 female, and hdl.