High cholesterol is one of many risk factors associated with heart disease, heart attacks and strokes. Keeping your blood cholesterol levels within a healthy range is important to avoid developing these serious conditions, and cholesterol lowering medications can be one of the ways to help you achieve this goal. Learning about cholesterol lowering medications can help you make informed decisions and stay healthy.
How They Work
Many cholesterol lowering medications are available, and each works slightly differently to reduce your cholesterol levels. Statins decrease the amount of cholesterol your liver produces. Resins increase the amount of cholesterol your body gets rid of with bile. Selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors reduce the amount of cholesterol absorbed by your intestines. Fibrates are used primarily for lowering triglyceride levels and increasing good, HDL cholesterol. Niacin is a dietary supplement that affects the production of blood fats, contributing to lower triglycerides and improved cholesterol ratios.
Medication Can't Do It Alone
Cholesterol lowering medications are not the only way to lower your cholesterol level; taking medication alone will result in less improvement than if you also make changes to your overall lifestyle. Eating a healthy diet that's lower in saturated fats and calories, getting regular exercise, losing weight and kicking the smoking habit are all lifestyle changes that can improve the cholesterol lowering benefits of cholesterol medications.
Dietary Changes May Have the Same Affect
In a number of people, diet plays a considerable role in the development of high cholesterol levels. Thus, by improving your diet, you may experience cholesterol lowering benefits similar to those that cholesterol lowering medications can provide. According to the findings of a study reported in a 2003 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association" and cited by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, people who eat a vegetarian diet that includes soluble fiber, soy protein, almonds and foods enriched with plant sterol can experience reduced levels of blood cholesterol similar to the effects provided by cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins.
Can Be Taken Without High Cholesterol
Cholesterol medications are usually prescribed only if you already have high cholesterol, but some people can benefit from taking cholesterol lowering medications even if their cholesterol is not high. According to study findings reported by the National Jewish Health organization, people on statins who had normal cholesterol levels with elevated levels of C reactive protein experienced lower rates of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke compared with people who took a placebo. You can have your doctor check your CRP levels to determine if you would benefit from a statin despite having normal cholesterol levels.
Children and Cholesterol Medications
The long-term effects of many cholesterol lowering medications remain unknown. Therefore, children who experience high cholesterol levels are usually treated with changes to their diet and activity level rather than medication. When cholesterol lowering medications are used in children, they are not begun until at least the age of eight.
