My mother's side of the family has hereditary high cholesterol, so my mom and I have been on Lipitor since it came out, just about. Diet has no effect...it's our bodies producing it from whatever...??? But our whole family is very long lived...many living into their 90's, including my greataunt, 2 of my uncles, another uncle in his early 80's, my mom now 86, and one greataunt lived to 102. Both grandmothers lived to 88.