Elevated blood levels of LDL cholesterol, the bad cholesterol, and low levels of HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol, are risk factors for heart disease. Physicians often prescribe statin drugs to treat high cholesterol. Yet statins are not for everyone. Diet and other types of drugs are also effective in reducing your cholesterol. Consult your doctor about taking statins and alternative treatments to lower your cholesterol.
Statins
Statins are the drugs of first choice to treat high cholesterol levels. Statins, also called HMG CoA reductase inhibitors, inhibit an enzyme called 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-CoA reductase that is involved with production of cholesterol in your liver. The FDA has approved several statin drugs, such as fluvastatin, atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, lovastatin, and simvastatin, for the treatment of high cholesterol as an adjunct to a diet that is low in cholesterol and saturated fat. Statins can lower your LDL cholesterol levels by 20 to 40 percent, produce a modest increase of HDL cholesterol and reduce your risk of heart attack and death from heart disease. Statins may cause side effects that include nausea, diarrhea, muscle aches, joint pain, insomnia, blurred vision and ringing in your ears. Statins may also be harmful with effects that include liver damage, bleeding in your brain and rhabdomyolysis, a condition in which your muscle cells break down and release myoglobin, a protein that uses oxygen. Increased blood levels of myoglobin can cause kidney failure and death.
Diet
You can lower your cholesterol levels and reduce your risk of heart disease by avoiding or minimizing your consumptions of unhealthy fats and increasing your intake of healthy fats. Unhealthy fats include saturated fat and trans fat. Saturated fat, found in animal products, such as meat, poultry and dairy, may increase your LDL cholesterol levels. Trans fat, also called hydrogenated vegetable oils, may also increase your LDL cholesterol. Trans fats are found in processed and fried foods. Healthy fats include omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, pumpkin seeds and walnuts and monounsaturated fats that are found in olive oil and almonds.
Bile Acid Sequestrants
Bile acid sequestrants are drugs that lower cholesterol by binding cholesterol with bile acids and excreting the combined substance in your stool. These medications may lower your LDL cholesterol by 10 to 20 percent. The three most popular bile acid sequestrants are cholestyramine, colestipol and colesevelam.
Niacin
Physicians often prescribe niacin, also called nicotinic acid or vitamin B-3, in addition to statins or to supplement your diet. Niacin can increase your HDL cholesterol levels, which in turn can lower your LDL cholesterol. Side effects from niacin include redness in your face, headache, dizziness and liver damage.
References
- American Heart Association: What Your Cholesterol Levels Mean
- American Heart Association: Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute: Statins
- MayoClinic.com; Statins: Are These Cholesterol-Lowering Drugs Right for You?; Feb. 11, 2010
- Harvard School of Public Health: Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, in with the Good
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; Bile Acid Sequestrants
