 |
| The
Statins: Generic and Trade Names |
Lovastatin
(Mevacor)
Simvastatin (Zocor)
Pravastatin (Pravachol)
Fluvastatin (Lescol)
Atoryastatin (Lipitor)
Cerivastatin (Baycol) |
|
|
Cholesterol
is a waxy substance that occurs naturally in all parts of the
body and that your body needs to function normally. It is present
everywhere in the body, including the brain, nerves, muscle,
skin, liver, intestines, and heart.
Your
body uses cholesterol to produce many hormones, vitamin D, and
the bile acids that help to digest fat. It takes only a small
amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs. Your
body makes all the cholesterol it needs, and it is not necessary
to take in any additional cholesterol from the foods you eat.
Your
blood cholesterol level is affected by what you eat and also
by how quickly your body makes low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol
and disposes of it. LDL-cholesterol carries most of the cholesterol
in the blood.
When
too much LDL-cholesterol is in the blood, it can lead to atherosclerosis,
a condition in which fat and cholesterol are deposited in the
walls of the arteries in many parts of the body, including the
coronary arteries feeding the heart. In time, narrowing of the
coronary arteries by atherosclerosis can produce the signs and
symptoms of heart disease, including angina (chest pain) and
heart attack.
Cholesterol-lowering
medications and you
If
you have an LDL level of 130 mg/dL or greater, you will generally
need to take medicine. If your LDL level is 100 to 129 mg/dL,
your doctor will consider all the facts of your case in deciding
whether to prescribe medication. If you have cardiovascular
disease, your doctor may choose to start you on a medication
if your LDL-cholesterol is 100 mg/dL or greater.
Are
You Cholesterol and Heart Healthy?
Take this quiz to test your knowledge about cholesterol
and heart disease. Answer true or false to the questions
below. |
|
1.
High blood cholesterol is one of the risk factors
for heart disease that you can do something about.
2. To lower your blood cholesterol level you should
eat less saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol,
and lose weight if you are overweight.
3. Saturated fats raise your blood cholesterol level
more than anything else in your diet.
4. Lowering blood cholesterol levels can help people
who have already had a heart attack.
5. Reading food labels can help you eat the heart
healthy way.
6. To lower your blood cholesterol level you must
stop eating meat altogether.
7. Any blood cholesterol level below 240 mg/dL is
desirable for adults.
8. All vegetable oils help lower blood cholesterol
levels.
9. All children need to have their blood cholesterol
levels checked.
10. Women dont need to worry about high blood cholesterol
and heart disease.
|
| If
you answered TRUE to the questions 1 to 5 and FALSE
to questions 6 to 10, you are on your way being cholesterol
and heart healthy. |
| Source:
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National
Institutes of Health |
|
Also,
if your LDL-cholesterol is far above the goal level of 100 mg/dL
when first measured, your doctor may choose to start a cholesterol-lowering
medication together with diet and physical activity right from
the beginning of treatment.
The
statins
Statins
have become the most prescribed cholesterol- lowering medicine.
There are currently six statin drugs on the market in the United
States: lovastatin,
simvastatin,
pravastatin,
fluvastatin,
atorvastatin,
and cerivastatin.
These drugs lower cholesterol by slowing down the production
of cholesterol and by increasing the liver's ability to remove
cholesterol already in the blood.
The
major effect of the statins is to lower LDL-cholesterol levels,
and they lower LDL-cholesterol more than other types of drugs.
Statins have been shown to lower LDL-cholesterol levels by as
much as 60 percent in patients on these drugs.
Statins
also increase slightly high-density lipoprotein (HDL)- cholesterol
and reduce elevated triglyceride levels. The large reductions
in total and LDL-cholesterol produced by statins have resulted
in large reductions in heart attacks and deaths due to heart
disease.
Statins
were originally prescribed for people who had coronary
artery disease (CAD) and high
cholesterol, but recently the statins have been shown to
help prevent a first heart attack even in people who have normal
cholesterol levels and no sign of heart disease.
The
statins may slow, stop, or even reverse the buildup of plaque.
By lowering the cholesterol content in unstable plaques, the
statins may make them more stable and less prone to rupture.
Statins may make artery walls healthier by reabsorbing cholesterol
from plaques, clearing blood vessels.
The
statins are usually taken in a single dose at the evening meal
or at bedtime. It is important that these medications be given
in the evening to take advantage of the fact that the body makes
more cholesterol at night than during the day.
You
should begin to see results from the statins after several weeks,
with a maximum effect in four to six weeks. After about six
to eight weeks, your doctor will check your LDL-cholesterol
while on the medication, and decide whether your dose of medicine
should be changed to help you meet your goal.
The
statins are well tolerated by most people, and serious side
effects are rare. A few people experience an upset stomach,
gas, constipation, and abdominal pain or cramps. These symptoms
usually are mild and go away as the body adjusts. Rarely someone
will develop abnormalities in blood tests of the liver.
Also
rare is the side effect of muscle problems. The symptoms are
muscle soreness, pain, and weakness. If this happens, or you
have brown urine, contact your doctor right away to get blood
tests for possible muscle problems.
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