According to the Mayo Clinic every cell in your body contains cholesterol. Your body uses this waxy, fat-like substance to produce healthy cells and some hormones. Although cholesterol is found in a number of foods, your body makes all it needs to function properly. When someone develops high cholesterol, fatty deposits may develop in blood vessels, making it hard for a sufficient flow of blood through the arteries. This can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. A nutritious diet combined with regular physical activity can oftentimes reduce high cholesterol. In some cases, medications are necessary to prevent the absorption of cholesterol.
Statins
Doctors frequently prescribe stations to lower cholesterol. This class of drugs works by obstructing a substance that the liver requires to make cholesterol. This blockage reduces the amount of cholesterol in your liver cells, causing your liver to eliminate cholesterol from your blood. Statins work best at lowering the LDL (bad) cholesterol, but they have minimal effects on reducing triglycerides (blood fats) and raising HDL (good) cholesterol. Statins include atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Altoprev, Mevacor) and pravastatin (Pravachol).
Selective Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitors
Selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors are a newer class of cholesterol-lowering medications. When your small intestine takes in the cholesterol from your food, it sends it into your bloodstream. The drug ezetimibe (Zetia) was approved in 2002 to help limit the absorption of dietary cholesterol. Like statins, selective cholesterol absorption inhibitors are primarily effective at lowering the LDL (bad) cholesterol.
Combination Statin & Cholesterol Absorption Inhibitor
The medication ezetimibe-simvastatin (Vytorin) lessens both absorption of the cholesterol consumed in your diet that enters your small intestine and the cholesterol produced in your liver.
Resins
Resins are a class of LDL cholesterol lowering medications. They are also referred to as bile acid sequestrant or bile acid-binding drugs. Cholesterol is used by your body to produce bile which is an acid involved in the digestion process. Resins attach to bile and prevent it from being used during digestion. Your liver reacts to this interference by using more cholesterol in its attempt to increase the production of bile. This results in less cholesterol getting into the bloodstream. Resins include cholestyramine (Prevalite, Questran), and colesevelam (Welchol).
