I don't have any direct information on the arterial disease portion. I can tell you that there is no circumstance of which I can currently conceive in which I would agree to take statins. But that is just me.

However, what I will say is that in my recent studies and investigation, the majority or arterial "clutter" (for lack of a better term) tends to come from an incomplete supplement profile. For example, if you take Vitamin D3 but without the K2 and other supplements (magnesium, boron, zinc, potassium, etc.) that D3 might never get where it needs to go. Or if you take calcium without the full compliment of medications to complete absorption into the bones, it will clutter up the arteries. If you don't take the fish oil, Vitamin A, and other antioxidants to clear any unintentional clutter, prevent toxicity, etc.

So, while, there are mitigating factors here, quite obviously, I would still come back to reviewing your dietary intake and/or supplements to see where you might be over-dosing, under-dosing, missing co-factors, or missing a key dietary component that could help in multiple areas...

@bibbob300 @RalfLott just posted a great Doc story and case history on another thread, I'll repeat the link here. It's awesome and may give you some more ideas/insight: community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10470754/report-of-vascular-plaque-reduction-on-a-ketogenic-diet#latest

Ahoy, @bibbob300 and @canadjineh!

Like Butter Bob, I blew a low, but positive score on a recent coronary calcium scan, and I decided to follow the advice of my young cardiologist and diabetitian and increase my dose of Crestor in order to lower my LDL and risk of cardiac events. Meanwhile, I reckon I'll keep a close eye on my blood work and get another scan in a couple years.

TMI: I had nasty leg cramps on generic Lipitor and got a pass from my prescription insurer to switch to Crestor, which at 10mg did not produce aches and pains. I've been on 20mg now for over 2 months, still cramp-free.

I had been hoping the scan would return a nice, neat score of 0, in which case I might have dumped the much-maligned statins altogether. But it was not to be.

I hemmed and hawed about it for a month or so while partially digesting various studies and sermons, both pro- and anti-statin.

After a waking nightmare, I decided I didn't want to chance being the guy who woke up one day in the ICU after a heart attack, only to discover that among T2Ds with CAD on LC diets, the ones who took statins had better outcomes (and, accordingly, that only some of those who formed their immutable, negative opinions during a transient wave of statin-doubting lived to regret it).

I ain't thrilled about it, but until I hear of some solid evidence that folks with my risk factors and lack of side effects are worse off for taking statins, I'm not going to roll the dice and go commando just now.