OP - why don't you want to take a statin?

That said, I stopped taking my statin. When I took it, build-up of plaque in one of my arteries didn't stop, and I was exercising and eating well, too.

Odds, from what I can gather from the Web, are that staving off a heart attack, if I'm destined to have one, on a regular dose of statin is 20 to 1, over three years.

Exercise? Odds that exercise will help - not guarantee - to stave off a heart attack are apparently far better.

I'd love to know, although no such study will ever be conducted for ethical reasons, how well people who exercise and eat right and do not take statins do, compared to people who exercise and eat well and do take statins. Are statins truly an additive protection, like driving defensively and wearing a seatbelt? Or might exercise and healthy eating alone be as effective or more so than taking a statin? That is, what reduces heart attacks the most, what leads to a longer life?

One more thing: recent studies indicate that, in sufficient dosage, we can reverse plaque buildup in your coronary arteries with a statin This is a preliminary finding, funded by drug companies. It does give me some pause, though, about why I refuse to take a statin (my cholesterol numbers off of statins are fine, but I've had a heart attack).