Comment by ViktorRay

Wait isn’t this the other way around?

In reality lifestyle modifications are more conservative than using a medication so lifestyle modification would be first line from an ethical perspective.

In reality though it does seem like statins are used first line by many clinicians. But ethically speaking conservative interventions like lifestyle modification in terms of changing diet and exercise should be used prior to medicating a young otherwise healthy person.

In other groups such as when someone has had a recent heart attack of course the thought process is different. Such people should be immediately placed on a statin.