How cholesterol medications can help
How can high cholesterol lead to heart attack, heart disease and strokes?
- Cholesterol can build up on the walls of your veins and arteries and form hard plaques.
- This "hardening of the arteries" damages their lining, which sets the stage for heart disease. It also makes the vessels more prone to blood clots.
- Blood clots can break off and block the arteries, leading to strokes, heart attacks, or circulation problems.
Lowering high cholesterol can help protect you from these serious health problems. Lowering cholesterol may not just stop new plaques from forming on the lining – aggressively treating cholesterol may even help get rid of existing plaque buildup.
Treating high cholesterol
Although exercise and a healthy diet are often the first line of defence, sometimes they aren't enough to manage or reverse the problem. Many people also need medications to get their cholesterol to a healthier level. Here's how some common cholesterol medications work:
Statins: This group of cholesterol medications, which includes atorvastatin (Lipitor®), fluvastatin (Lescol®), lovastatin (Mevacor®), pravastatin (Pravachol®), rosuvastatin (Crestor®), and simvastatin (Zocor®), works by blocking the production of cholesterol in the liver.
Cholesterol absorption inhibitors: This type of cholesterol medication, which includes ezetimibe (Ezetrol®), works by stopping cholesterol from being absorbed into the body through the intestine.
Resins: This family of cholesterol medication, which includes cholestyramine, colesevelam (Lodalis®), and colestipol (Colestid®), removes bile acids from your body. Your body then uses up cholesterol to make up for the lost bile acids.
Fibrates: This group, which includes bezafibrate (Bezalip® SR), gemfibrozil (Lopid® and generics), and fenofibrate (Lipidil® and generics), works by breaking down cholesterol and blocking cholesterol production.
PCSK9 inhibitors: This group of cholesterol medications prevents the natural breakdown of cholesterol transporters in our body. This group includes alirocumab (Praluent®) and evolocumab (Repatha®).
Icosapent ethyl: Icosapent ethyl (Vascepa®) is a type of purified omega-3 fatty acid that enters your cell membranes which can contribute to many different effects related to your cholesterol.
Are all medications the same?
The short answer is "No." Some medications are more effective at lowering certain types of cholesterol. For example, the fibrates lower triglycerides levels more than others, which is important for people with diabetes, but are not as effective at decreasing the "bad" cholesterol (LDL-C).
Keep in mind that different medications also have different side effects, risks, and costs associated with them. As a result, it's important to have a discussion with your doctor first to see if you should be taking cholesterol medication and to find which ones may be the most appropriate for you.
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