http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/cholesterol/

I too went to the doctor to have full blood work done. My normal cholesterol readings 2 years ago, are apparently not good enough now and "every" diabetic is now being treated like they already have CHD. There really is not any data to prove moving cholesterol to an unnaturally low numbers helps diabetics, but that's the current recommendations from NIH.

I did a bunch of research on this. It's well known by most people who are make their personal health their own responsiblity that statins push cholesterol levels too hard, and cause multitude of others problems. However, new drugs are available, in particular one called Zetia. It's usually added to a statin, but it works by limiting the amount of cholesterol that can be absorbed in the intestines. This is the food part of the Vytorin commercial for "The two sources of cholesterol".

My best friend since kindergarten is now a liver transplant surgeon. We went on a hunt a few weeks ago, and I spoke with him about this research that he and others have been doing at Vanderbilt. His opinion is that reducing blood cholesterol is a goal for any health minded person, but not necessarily be so excessive about it.

Anyway, we have "special" numbers for us now that will make us all live forever:

BP > 130/80
HDL > 100
LDL < 40
TC < 130
HbA1c < 7 (if possible)

My numbers:

BP 125/75
HDL 160
LDL 26
TC 215
HbA1c 5.3

Incidentally, the nurse provided my with the new recommendations which state that the order of treatment importance for diabetics is: Blood Pressure, HDL, TC, then Blood Glucose (like to fell out when I heard that the lowest priority in BG control, of course it complete BS).

To that end, I don't want to ignore the recommendations, but I surely am not taking a statin. I mentioned Zetia to the nurse practicitioner, and she told me I "had" to take a statin. I somewhat less than politely that her I didn't "have" to do a damn thing. Anyway, the real doctor came in and I told her that I would not be taking a statin ever, but I will try Zetia for a while. Anyway, the real doctor said "sounds like a good plan to me" and proceeded to give me 12 weeks worth of free samples.

Anyway, I always had slightly elevated cholesterol(even before I was diabetic or on Atkins).

So, if you are wondering where those recommendations came from, NIH is where.

Later,
wsgts