A great deal of research has been done in the past four decades, with the aim of finding effective cholesterol medicine.
The inspiration for this research was the discovery in 1961, by the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, Massachusetts, that cholesterol levels in the blood were a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease.
It's generally agreed that the safest way for lowering high cholesterol is to increase exercise and change your diet to minimize food sources of cholesterol.
Diet and exercise alone, however, may not always be enough to make the dramatic changes that are required in some cases.
You and your doctor may decide that you would benefit from adding some form of statin drugs to your new regimen.
At that point, you should do some research and compare the benefits and risks of statins.
Statins are an example of drugs that are used to lower cholesterol.
Statins block a substance the body uses to make cholesterol.
They also assist the reabsorption of cholesterol that has accumulated on the walls of the arteries as plaque, a substance that blocks blood vessels and contributes to cardiac problems.
The statin drugs began to be produced in the late 1970s, and have become known for their ability to lower cholesterol effectively.
They include well-known and widely-used medications like lovastatin (the earliest statin to be isolated), atorvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, and the newest member of the group, rosuvastatin, as well as others.
Although the statin drugs have been proven, over time, to be extremely effective cholesterol medicine, they do have several serious side effects.
One of these can occur when a patient takes niacin together with a statin drug.
Niacin (Vitamin B3) has been featured in several well-designed studies, and has been found to be effective in lowering high cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as in raising "good" cholesterol.
The combination of statins and niacin creates a risk for the breakdown of skeletal muscles, as well as life-threatening kidney failure.
That said, however, if niacin is taken in addition to a statin drug under the close supervision of a knowledgeable physician, the combination can reduce strokes and heart attacks by nearly 70 percent.
It is decidedly not a do-it-yourself therapy; in fact, niacin should never be taken as a cholesterol medicine without being monitored by your doctor.
Statin drugs have an effect on liver enzymes, which - if undetected or untreated - can lead to liver dysfunction.
All manufacturers of statin drugs warn against this symptom, and caution that regular blood tests should be administered to monitor liver function in people taking statins.
Another serious side effect is severe muscle pain, which could indicate statin-induced myopathy (muscle disease).
Less serious side effects like nausea, fever, and headaches are also listed.
Because statin drugs tend to decrease the body's supply of CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a nutrient essential to strong heart function, it is recommended that people taking statins also take supplements of CoQ10.
If you want to try the quick and reliable, but riskier, drugs for cholesterol medicine - be sure your doctor is supervising your progress.
Working as a team with your health care professional, you will no doubt be able to bring your cholesterol levels under control, and live a healthier and longer life.
The inspiration for this research was the discovery in 1961, by the Framingham Heart Study in Framingham, Massachusetts, that cholesterol levels in the blood were a contributing factor to cardiovascular disease.
It's generally agreed that the safest way for lowering high cholesterol is to increase exercise and change your diet to minimize food sources of cholesterol.
Diet and exercise alone, however, may not always be enough to make the dramatic changes that are required in some cases.
You and your doctor may decide that you would benefit from adding some form of statin drugs to your new regimen.
At that point, you should do some research and compare the benefits and risks of statins.
Statins are an example of drugs that are used to lower cholesterol.
Statins block a substance the body uses to make cholesterol.
They also assist the reabsorption of cholesterol that has accumulated on the walls of the arteries as plaque, a substance that blocks blood vessels and contributes to cardiac problems.
The statin drugs began to be produced in the late 1970s, and have become known for their ability to lower cholesterol effectively.
They include well-known and widely-used medications like lovastatin (the earliest statin to be isolated), atorvastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, and the newest member of the group, rosuvastatin, as well as others.
Although the statin drugs have been proven, over time, to be extremely effective cholesterol medicine, they do have several serious side effects.
One of these can occur when a patient takes niacin together with a statin drug.
Niacin (Vitamin B3) has been featured in several well-designed studies, and has been found to be effective in lowering high cholesterol and triglycerides, as well as in raising "good" cholesterol.
The combination of statins and niacin creates a risk for the breakdown of skeletal muscles, as well as life-threatening kidney failure.
That said, however, if niacin is taken in addition to a statin drug under the close supervision of a knowledgeable physician, the combination can reduce strokes and heart attacks by nearly 70 percent.
It is decidedly not a do-it-yourself therapy; in fact, niacin should never be taken as a cholesterol medicine without being monitored by your doctor.
Statin drugs have an effect on liver enzymes, which - if undetected or untreated - can lead to liver dysfunction.
All manufacturers of statin drugs warn against this symptom, and caution that regular blood tests should be administered to monitor liver function in people taking statins.
Another serious side effect is severe muscle pain, which could indicate statin-induced myopathy (muscle disease).
Less serious side effects like nausea, fever, and headaches are also listed.
Because statin drugs tend to decrease the body's supply of CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a nutrient essential to strong heart function, it is recommended that people taking statins also take supplements of CoQ10.
If you want to try the quick and reliable, but riskier, drugs for cholesterol medicine - be sure your doctor is supervising your progress.
Working as a team with your health care professional, you will no doubt be able to bring your cholesterol levels under control, and live a healthier and longer life.
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