If you suffer from high cholesterol, the first line of defense is typically a combination of diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes. Doctors often recommend you limit your intake of saturated fat, trans-fatty acids and dietary cholesterol while incorporating more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and heart-healthy fish into your diet. They also suggest daily exercise and may even advise you to take up a weight loss plan. But when these changes fail to provide results, or your cholesterol is relatively high, a prescription medication may be necessary to reduce your lipid levels. As with any medication, some are more common than others.
Statins
Of all the cholesterol-reducing medications, statins are probably the most common. This type of prescription works on the body in two different ways. It is predominantly used to stop the production of cholesterol within the liver. When the liver stops producing cholesterol, it must turn to the bloodstream for its supply to aid in digestion and create hormones, thereby reducing your lipid levels. It may also reverse the accumulation of cholesterol along your arterial walls, improving blood flow and decrease your risk of heart disease, heart attack or stroke.
Resins
Another fairly common cholesterol medication is resin. With this prescription drug, your liver essentially changes the way in which it creates bile. As you take this medication, your liver starts to use more cholesterol than normal to create these digestive acids, according to the Mayo Clinic. And, much like with statins, it eventually turns to the cholesterol in your bloodstream, which reduces your lipid levels.
Ezetimibe
You may also be prescribed the medication ezetimibe to help lower your cholesterol levels, especially in regard to low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Often referred to as a cholesterol absorption inhibitor, this prescription drug acts on your digestive tract, reducing the amount of cholesterol absorbed into the body, according to the National Institutes of Health. This medication is commonly used in conjunction with statins.
Fibrates
Fibrates are also used to reduce cholesterol levels. However, this medication is far more effective on triglycerides, a type of fat in your blood found in very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). This works similar to statins, but, instead of reducing the production of LDL cholesterol, it lowers the production of VLDL cholesterol.
B Vitamins
Your doctor may also prescribe a prescription-strength form of niacin, one of the B vitamins. This dietary supplement seems to work almost in the same way that statins and fibrates work on the body, but it reduces the production of both low-density lipoprotein and very low-density lipoprotein.
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