Cholesterol Medication and Guidelines
Cholesterol guidelines provided by most centers and laboratories for people at risk of developing cholesterol-related conditions include certain changes in their lifestyle, such as getting plenty of exercise and having a healthy diet. If these methods don’t help, you can be prescribed special cholesterol medication that will deal with high levels of cholesterol in your blood:
Bile-acid-binding resins. Bile acids are produced in the liver with the participation of cholesterol; your body needs them to digest food properly. Such cholesterol drugs as Prevalite and Questran (cholestyramine), Welchol (colesevelam) and Colestid (colestipol) bind bile acids and help lower your cholesterol levels.
Cholesterol absorption inhibitors. Cholesterol is absorbed from the food you eat in the intestine and then released into the bloodstream. Some kinds of cholesterol medicine, such as Zetia (ezetimibe), reduce the amounts absorbed. This cholesterol drug can be used alone or in combination with statin drugs.
Combination of cholesterol medication. Usually the combination includes a statin and a cholesterol absorption inhibitor. Vytorin (ezetimibe-simvastatin) is one of such examples: it reduces the production of cholesterol of your liver and decreases its absorption simultaneously.
Statins are prescribed most often; their effect is based on blocking the substance responsible for the production of cholesterol in your liver. Your liver is then forced to start eliminating cholesterol from the blood, while your body can reabsorb cholesterol from the deposits where it was stored. This means that the accumulations of cholesterol that could block the blood stream get washed out, which significantly lowers the risk of heart disease. The most commonly used statins are Lipitor (atorvastatin), Lescol (fluvastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), Altoprev, Mevacor (lovastatin), Zocor (simvastatin) and Crestor (rosuvastatin).
In case you have high levels of triglycerides, you may be prescribed:
Niacin. Niacin is the most frequently prescribed cholesterol drug that limits the ability of your liver to produce LDL cholesterol, as well as VLDL (very-low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. If compared with other similar medications, Niacin has fewer side effects and is therefore more preferable in some cases. However, you should be careful with niacin supplements, as they are not effective and may lead to the permanent liver damage.
Fibrates reduce the production of VLDL in the liver and reduce the amount of triglycerides. Medications such as Lofibra, TriCor (fenofibrate) and Lopid (gemfibrozil) increase the speed at which triglycerides are removed from your bloodstream.
Niacin and statin combined. Usually the combination of Simcor or Advicor is advised, but you may want to discuss this choice with your doctor to make sure the side effects do not outweigh the benefits.
When taking these drugs, you should follow cholesterol guidelines provided by your doctor, including the dosage and the frequency, as well as make any necessary changes to your lifestyle (for example keep to a cholesterol lowering diet). Although side effects are rare, they may include nausea and diarrhea, stomach pain, muscle pains and constipation.
Back to Cholesterol
