The usual dose for adults is between 10mg and 80mg a day. Your dose depends on the reason why you're taking it, your cholesterol levels, and what other medicines you're taking. Do not reduce your dose without talking to your doctor first. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice if you're unsure how much to take.
Use of rosuvastatin 2.5 to 20 mg once a week has been shown to decrease LDL cholesterol by 25% and be tolerated by up to 70% of statin-intolerant patients.
The data show that rosuvastatin 5 mg is highly effective in lowering LDL-C to recommended levels for most patients (mean reductions ranging from 42 to 52%).
Dosage. The usual dose of simvastatin for adults is between 10mg and 40mg once a day. People with very high cholesterol levels may be prescribed a higher dose of 80mg a day. Your dose will depend on why you need the medicine, your cholesterol levels, and other medicines you're taking.
Could I be prescribed a dose of 5 mg? The typical Lipitor dosage range is 10 milligrams (mg) to 80 mg taken once per day. Your dose may depend on the severity of your condition and any other medications you're taking along with Lipitor. There's no 5-mg dose of Lipitor dosage available in the United States.
If you're taking a statin medication to lower your cholesterol, you will need to keep taking your prescription, or your cholesterol will likely go back up. Stopping your statin can put you at risk of having heart disease and other preventable health problems like stroke and heart attack from high cholesterol.
Our study reported that both 5 mg and 10 mg rosuvastatin significantly decreases blood cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL levels.
Adults—5 to 40 milligrams (mg) once a day. Children 10 to 17 years of age—5 to 20 mg per day. Children 8 to 9 years of age—5 to 10 mg per day. Children younger than 8 years of age—Use and dose must be determined by your doctor.
Discussion. Our analysis of current evidence suggests that intermittent statin administration is effective in lowering LDL levels in patients with dyslipidemia. All dosing regimens, including alternate days, 3 to 5 times a week, 2 to 3 times a week, and once a week, were shown to be effective.
As evident from periodic liver enzyme estimations, we can say that alternate-day statin therapy is at least as safe as daily treatment regime. While there was one instance of myalgia, on daily atorvastatin treatment, alternate-day dosage of the same was well tolerated.
According to a research review people who take simvastatin (Zocor) or pravastatin (Pravachol) may experience fewer side effects.
Adults—At first, 10 or 20 milligrams (mg) once a day. Some patients may need to start at 40 mg per day. Your doctor may increase your dose as needed. However, the dose is usually not more than 80 mg per day.
It turns out that some statins may be better at preventing liver cancer than others. Specifically, lipophilic statins (those that dissolve more readily in lipids such as oils and fats) may be more effective for preventing liver cancer than hydrophilic statins (those that dissolve more readily in water).
As a general guide, total cholesterol levels should be: 5mmol/L or less for healthy adults. 4mmol/L or less for those at high risk.
Which cholesterol-lowering drug is the safest? Overall, statins are safe as a class of drugs. Serious adverse events are very rare. Among the individual medications, studies have shown that simvastatin (Zocor®) and pravastatin (Pravachol®) seem to be safer and better tolerated than the other statins.
Lowering your cholesterol levels through diet, exercise, or weight loss could eliminate your need to take statins or other cholesterol medications. If you can do that, that's great!
Statins help lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, also known as “bad” cholesterol, in the blood. They draw cholesterol out of plaque and stabilize plaque, Blaha says.
Statins decrease your LDL (low-density lipoprotein) or bad cholesterol and may increase your HDL (high-density lipoprotein) or good cholesterol. LDL is bad because it builds up inside your arteries. HDL is good because it brings cholesterol to your liver, which gets it out of your body.
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
The most important thing your doctor will keep in mind when thinking about statin treatment is your long-term risk of a heart attack or stroke. If your risk is very low, you probably won't need a statin, unless your LDL is above 190 mg/dL (4.92 mmol/L).
After having their cholesterol tested, seniors should be given a number between 190 and 260. Healthy seniors should keep their total cholesterol below 200 and their LDL cholesterol around 100. If your elderly loved one's LDL cholesterol level is above 160, he or she must start making sweeping lifestyle changes.
PCSK-9 inhibitors thus reduce cholesterol levels by maintaining higher levels of LDL receptors that remove cholesterol from the blood. Currently, PCSK-9 inhibitors are limited in use as they must be administered as shots. Further research into them could expand their use as an alternative to statins.
Conclusion: Statins lower blood pressure by cholesterol-independent mechanisms, and the reduction is larger in individuals with higher blood pressure and those with low HDL-C. Statins may be beneficial in preventing hypertension and may contribute to better blood pressure control in hypertensive patients.