All About Cholesterol Lowering Drugs

More than 40 percent of the average Americans suffer from high cholesterol levels. You may already know that high cholesterol levels affect your health by clogging your arteries and increasing the risk of heart disease, heart attack or stroke occurring.

But what happens when diet and natural supplements did not give you the results you wanted? If you have determined that your cholesterol levels are still high, with all the diets and supplements, your doctor may prescribe certain drugs to lower LDL cholesterol levels. Besides this, your physician may suggest that you go for a different low-in-fat diet, exercises to maintain a healthy weight, a regular exercise program, and also stop smoking, if there is the case.

Even though there are many drugs that can help lower cholesterol, some of them may be expensive and can produce serious side effects. Consult with your doctor if serious reactions occur, and before starting any drug therapy, take time to read up on the side effects.

Statin drugs

You should discuss the option of statin drugs thoroughly with your physician since these drugs have been pretty successful in lowering cholesterol. However, there is a definite risk associated with these drugs. Examples of statin drugs:

Norvir (ritonavir)

Fortovase (saquinavir)

Pravachol (pravastatin)

Zocor (simvastatin)

Lipitor (atorvastatin)

Baycol (cerivastatin)

Lescol (fluvastatin)

As said before, when you are on any of these statins you may experience some side effects. Some of these side effects include muscle aches for once. If this occurs, you should immediately contact your physician. A higher level of risk from suffering side effects associated with statin drugs encounter individuals that have mild kidney dysfunction. Recently, it has been recommended that if you are on any drug therapy that includes a statin drug (Mevacor, Lescol, Pravachol, Zocor, Lipitor), you should also take Co-Enzyme Q10 as a supplement. Since this necessary enzyme is depleted by taking these drugs, and it is critical that you supplement Co-Q to protect your heart.

Bile acid sequestrates

Colestid (colestipol HCI)

Questran (cholestyramine)

Secreted from the liver and gall bladder in the bile, bile acids go into the intestines in order to soften any type of fatty material but also to help with absorption. A majority of these secreted bile acids are then reabsorbed from the intestines and then back to the liver. The one major drawback of these drugs is the malabsorption.

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