Well, I would certainly agree that there is a bandwagon effect going on. And if I had borderline cholesterol readings, I wouldn't have chosen to take Lipitor--nor, my doctor said, would he have suggested I go on it. But as you wisely said, Lisa, everyone has to do a "cost/benefit" analysis when medications are involved. And in my case, the fear isn't of heart disease, anyway, but of the vascular dementia that has been correlated with high cholesterol in every single one of my elderly female relatives for several generations. And there is small scale evidence that Lipitor INDEPENDENTLY (i.e., even in the absence of high LDL levels) protects against loss of cognitive function in elderly women.

So in my case, I think the risk of taking the drug--carefully monitored by my cautious doctor--is quite worth it. At any rate, the small risk of a rare side effect is certainly preferable to a future of becoming like my mother, grandmother, great aunts, aunts, etc.

Edited to say: Lisa, I'm really sorry aboutt his post. I'm not saying anything different than you said, which is that this is an individual decision based on specific risk factors, etc. Sorry--I didn't mean to get on a soapbox.