John Larkin wrote
No doubt this is true in itself, but you get a much lower quality of life in your last few decades.
The "health systems" which collect these stats don't measure quality of life.
I don't know where you live but anywhere in the West, look around you and look at the obesity epidemic, the *young* people with amputations, etc. They will live a fair few years, at a huge cost to the taxpayer and to themselves.
I happen to know quite a bit about this... unfortunately. Well, only 1 stent, and very proactive on making sure there are no more :)
The medical profession is frequently useless, for the individual, for many reasons. The establishment is of necessity focused on population benefit.
High cholesterol does bung up your circulatory system. And statins do work. But they do have frequent side effects (muscle pains mainly). You have to have regular blood tests and work out the minimum dose to achieve the right result, and generally that should eliminate the side effects. Just like thyroxine; something else I know quite a bit about. And low thyroid leads directly to high cholesterol which leads to... you've guessed it.
You have to be pro-active on the medical front. Nobody else will look out for you.