High cholesterol is one of the risk factors for heart disease, the most common cause of death for men and women in the U.S. Taking statins can help to lower your cholesterol, but the effect will depend on the particular statin and the dose prescribed for you. You may experience side effects, as well as beneficial effects, and some statins might not be effective for you at all.
Cholesterol Lowering Effect
Statins can make a real difference to your risk for stroke and heart attacks according to a meta-analysis by M.R. Law published in the "British Journal of Medicine" in 2003. Taking statins lowered the study participants' risk for stroke by 17 percent and the risk for ischaemic heart disease events by approximately 60 percent.
Side Effects
The most common side effects caused by statins are generally mild, and include constipation, diarrhea, muscle and joint aches and nausea. More serious but less common side effects include damage to your liver or muscle pain and tenderness. You may need to continue taking statins for the rest of your life, so any side effects should be discussed with your doctor. A lower dose or a different statin may be a better option for you in this case, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Considerations
Statins are not the only option for lowering cholesterol, and do not negate the need for lifestyle changes. Even if you are on statins you still need to eat a healthy diet, exercise, stop smoking and manage your stress levels. Statins do not work as well for some people as for others, so you may need to try different statins or statins in combination with another medication to get your cholesterol down, according to the Mayo Clinic. Most statins have another beneficial effect besides lowering cholesterol. Although simvastatin appears to increase inflammation, in general statins seem to lower your risk for inflammation, which may also lower your risk for inflammatory illnesses, such as rheumatoid arthritis, some types of cancer and the blood-clotting disease venous thromboembolism. Research is ongoing to define the relationship between cholesterol and inflammation.
Recommendations
Some statins work better than others. If your low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, cholesterol needs to be lowered less than 30 percent, then generic lovastatin or pravastatin may be the best option for you, while those who need to lower their LDL cholesterol more may be better off taking generic simvastatin and those who have had a heart attack and have very high LDL cholesterol may do best on atorvastatin, according to "Consumer Reports." These recommendations take into account cost, safety and effectiveness.
References
- "British Medical Journal;" Quantifying Effect of Statins on Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Ischaemic Heart Disease, and Stroke: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis' M.R. Law; 2003
- Consumer Reports: Statins: Summary of Recommendations
- Mayo Clinic: Statins: Are These Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Right For You?
- Science Daily: If You Take Simvastatin to Control Cholesterol, Watch out for Infection
- Science Daily: Statins May Exert Influence On Prostate Cancer Growth By Reducing Inflammation
- Science Daily: Statins Decrease Risk of Clot-Related Diseases, Study Finds
