i have read several books on this subj, two of which appear germane...lester packer of the packer institute out of ucla works and cholate research on anitoxidents....they do invitro/invivo/animal studies and their results indicate that the major antioxidents, c/e/ala/coq10 work in concert and remove free radicals. his contention is that oxidation, ie lipid peroxidation is the problem, not cholesterol per se. the other book that i found enlightening was by a british doctor and researcher. cant remember his name but the book is called...the cholesterol con. he lists the major studies from around the world as well as many graphs...his bottom line and one that is stated in most of the studies...all cause death is the same for drugs vs placebo, ie the drugs being tested may, and in many cases do not,  lower chol but all cause deaths remain equal at the end of the day. so basically you can take all the drugs in the world or none and in both situations your ultimate life span in unaffected. he also has much information on the side effects such as muscle waisting/liver problems and cancer that is a bit scary and are probably the reason they do not in the long run make any difference...he also goes into detail about how the drug manufacturers manipulate and cherry pick the results they want, and to boot, change the reason for taking their drugs...in england evidently they are even suggesting everybody take these because we all have high chol....i realize this site does not advocate drugds, but im quite sure there may be many who are considering this approach...be wary, the doctors in this country dont seen to know about alternatives and can be very aggressive in pushing them....