POWERFUL CHOLESTEROL LOWERING DRUGS STATINS LIKE LIPITOR CRESTOR HELP PROTECT HEART BUT CHOLESTEROL MEDS SIDE EFFECTS SOME PEOPLE DON'T TOLERATE

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Right now the most "popular" class of cholesterol medications are the statins. Doctors love statins. Why are statins like Lipitor, Zocor and Crestor so important and why is cholesterol so important? What is good vs bad cholesterol? What is LDL and HDL and the relationship to trans fats? High LDL is associated with increased risk of heart disease, artery blockage atherosclerosis. Conversely, high HDL, "good cholesterol" is associated with less problems. When people talk about the good cholesterol and the bad cholesterol they are referring to HDL and LDL. HDL and LDL are lipoproteins, structures created from cholesterol and protein that travel to and from the liver carrying cholesterol. Trans fats are fats that worsen bad cholesterol.









Right now the most "popular" class of cholesterol drugs are the statins. Statins on the market:

Crestor

Lipitor (atorvastatin)

Mevacor (lovastatin)

pravastatin

fluvastatin

simvistatin




Statins reduce the quantities of LDL Cholesterol. Statins block the manufacture of cholesterol in the liver by interfering with an enzyme that orchestrates cholesterol production,HMGCoa Reductase. That's why statins are called HMGCoa Reductase Inhibitors. Enzymes are chemicals called proteins that act all over the body to speed up chemical reactions.

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Statins work in the liver. That's why they get a blood test to check liver function when someones starts a statin and why doctors monitor liver function with a blood test when you take statins. A rare but dangerous possible side effect of statins is rhabdomyolysis characterized by muscle pain and weakness. One statin, cervistatin, was removed from the market because of problems with this phenomenon. It's the breakdown of muscle tissue and requires immediate emergency intervention. It may be the result of drug interactions between statins and other medications which result in high concentrations of the drug.






I've mentioned LDL, that is tagged with the moniker "bad cholesterol" but HDLs are called the good cholesterol because high levels of HDL seem to decrease coronary heart disease risk. Routinely doctors say that the HDL acts to carry away the bad cholesterol from the artery walls, however, there is also evidence that HDLs may interfere with LDL oxidation. Oxidation of LDL refers to a chemical process that happens on the LDL and is believed to be one of the steps in the process that leads to heart attack.




When you get a blood test at the doctor they typically order a Lipid Profile blood test providing values including:

Total cholesterol

HDL good cholesterol

LDL bad cholesterol

Triglycerides



In addition other blood tests may give more data about cardiac risk including:

C reactive protein

homocysteine