It is so disheartening to read about people who think they are required to take a statin unless they can convince their doctor otherwise. I applaud Dr. Hadler for taking charge of his own health instead of being a passive recipient of his doctor’s decisions. However, I certainly hope that even if he did have his cholesterol measured and it was high, that he would not feel forced to fill and then consume the statins just because he was given a prescription.

You own your body. You don’t share ownership with your doctor. It is yours and yours alone. You don’t need his permission or his approval to not take a medication.

Within 3 months, my athletic performance improved by 30% (as measured by my time on a benchmark uphill course), and by the end of the season, by a sensational 70%. But now I have a problem with my doctors who simply refuse to believe me or confirm what I tell them with investigating further by reading the actual studies instead of relying on the drug company salesmen (80% use this source) or specialists in their field who also don’t seem to avoid reading the actual research.

I have so far had to leave three primary care doctors in a year, seemingly because they simply don’t like the idea that a patient might have important information they missed. I presume that is why Dr. Hadler still allows the blood testing for cholesterol, but requests that they do not inform him of the results. That is, even HE has trouble going against the received wisdom followed by the doctors who remain willfully ignorant of contrary information.