Hello,
I once thought that vemlidy contributes in the rise of cholesterol level. There might be an insignificant percent perhaps but not sure if there is a cause and effect with vemlidy and cholesterol level. At least for women who have gone through menopause.
(Is there a study done about correlation between vemlidy and cholesterol level ?)
I eat healthy and try my best to maintain a good health but my cholesterol level is still treading 200. I blamed it all on vemlidy. But recently, I am looking into the possiblility that it could be due to a loss of estrogen since the menopause. I’m 55 and became menopausal 3 years ago. My conjecture could be wrong. Or right. At least for me.
Are there menopausal women out there who is taking vemlidy, eat healthy yet have elevated cholesterol level?
I’m trying to figure out if the lack of estrogen is causing my cholesterol level to rise. If so, what can I do besides eating healthy and exercising?
Any comments would be appreciated.
Dear @catcher.007,
One of the reported side-effects of vemlidy in increased cholesterol. There are some studies showing that people taking viread had lower levels of cholesterol compared to those taking vemlidy (https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/9/1/ofab621/6456440, Reversible effect on lipids by switching from tenofovir diso... : AIDS), but it’s not clear if viread lowers cholesterol slightly or vemlidy increases it slightly, or both occur.
That said, menopause is also linked to increased cholesterol levels too, yes. I believe Joan exercises and takes statins to control her increased cholesterol levels.
Thomas
Hi Thomas,
Thank you for your comment. However please refer below from the link you shared.
The ratio TC/HDL remained unchanged with 4.63 ± 1.46 before and 4.56 ± 1.48 at week 12 after switching from TDF to TAF ( P = 0.356). The ratio triglycerides/HDL was 3.89 ± 2.67 and 4.26 ± 3.57 ( P = 0.426), respectively.
The RATIO did not change. Does this ultimately mean that it doesn’t matter whether you take vemlidy or viread because your cholester level is really the same because the ratio did not change.
If I understand the study correctly, the absolute levels changed, but the ratio stayed constant. How that actually affects cardiovascular health, I’m actually not too sure. Perhaps one of our @HealthExperts could comment?
TT
My understanding is that it is the absolute LDL level that is most important, along with total cholesterol. If total cholesterol and LDL are increased, this could (at least in theory) increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. However lipid metabolism is very complicated so a relatively small change like this related to medication may or may not be clinically significant. I would talk to your doctor and they can decide whether or not your individual cholesterol level is high enough to warrant treatment, and if so with what. Lifestyle changes are always the initial thing to try, but many people with elevated cholesterol levels need medications such as statins to get them down to safer levels. However the decision of whether or not to treat high cholesterol depends on a range of factors, in particular your other cardiovascular risk factors, so I recommend discussing with your doctor.
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I see then rather than looking at the ratio, look at the LDL level…I wonder if this includes what type of pattern of lipids. For instance, big kind (not so bad) or small kind(bad ) …
My LDL is 110 which is slightly higher than the ideal level. However, this level may not be high enough to warrant a treatment. I’ll have to double check with my liver specialist. My original comment had to do with how vemlidy may not necessarily cause high cholesterol level for menopausal women.
Anyway, thank you for your comments.
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