Doubling up on Meds

Q: I sometimes (once a month or so) eat a high-fat meal. Will doubling up on my cholesterol medication compensate?

A: No. If you occasionally don’t follow your diet, you shouldn’t panic, nor should you double your medication on your own. In a perfect world, we’d follow a heart-healthy diet 100 percent of the time, but we don’t live in a perfect world! If you eat a heart-healthy diet the rest of the month, an occasional fatty meal will not have a long-term effect on your cholesterol. You shouldn’t make changes in the way you take your prescription medication without first talking to your health-care provider.

Sharonne Hayes, M.D., is associate professor of medicine and cardiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, Minnesota.