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.
According to a research review people who take simvastatin (Zocor) or pravastatin (Pravachol) may experience fewer side effects.
In a retrospective cohort study, lovastatin showed no increased risk of adverse hepatic effects in a total of 93,106 patients with liver disease.
Rosuvastatin and atorvastatin are the best at lowering LDL cholesterol.
In the analysis of 135 previous studies, which included nearly 250,000 people combined, researchers found that the drugs simvastatin (Zocor) and pravastatin (Pravachol) had the fewest side effects in this class of medications.
Another newer option is actually a statin. It's called pitavastatin, or Livalo. It has the same LDL- and total cholesterol-lowering property as all the other statins, but somehow doesn't give the muscle aches. A lot of people have had a lot of success taking this over any of the other statins out there.
Atorvastatin is the most common cause of clinically significant liver injury among statins with a reported incidence of 1/17 000 users.
Most popular prescriptions. Atorvastatin (Lipitor) is a statin used to treat high cholesterol.
Statins are the most common medicine for high cholesterol. They reduce the amount of cholesterol your body makes. You take a tablet once a day. You usually need to take them for life.
Despite this, there was no significant difference between the two drugs in how well they decreased the volume of atherosclerotic buildup in the arteries. Both Crestor and Lipitor are generally well tolerated with a similar rate of side effects.
Statin-associated hepatocellular injury frequently occurs 5 to 90 days after the initiation of therapy. Bilirubin levels more than twice the ULN imply severe hepatocellular liver injury with a mortality of 10% and an incidence of 0.7–1.3 per 100,000 cases of drug-induced liver injury (DILI).
Even though all statins are similar chemically, they have some minor differences that could impact how likely they are to cause muscle pain. Simvastatin is the most likely to cause muscle pain, and fluvastatin is the least likely.
Along with a healthy diet and exercise, statin alternatives like ezetimibe (Zetia) can be taken with or without statins to help you meet your cholesterol goals. Natural and over-the-counter medications, like fish oil supplements, may also help manage your cholesterol levels.
They looked at the effects of Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor, and Pravachol on lowering LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol after six weeks. The study concluded that Crestor lowered LDL cholesterol by 8.2% more than Lipitor, and Crestor lowered total cholesterol significantly more than all the other statins studied.
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.
As a guide, health authorities recommend cholesterol levels should be no higher than 5.5 mmol per litre if there are no other risk factors present, or LDL levels less than 2 mmol/l for those who smoke, have high blood pressure or pre-existing heart disease.
Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods
Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, Brussels sprouts, apples and pears. Soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your LDL cholesterol.
If you have high cholesterol and are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, you should consider statins. That's because the benefits of statins greatly outweigh the risks. Statins reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events like heart attack or stroke by up to 25%, and death by 10%.
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.
You wouldn't need any additional liver enzyme tests unless you begin to have signs or symptoms of trouble with your liver. Contact your doctor immediately if you have unusual fatigue or weakness, loss of appetite, pain in your upper abdomen, dark-colored urine, or yellowing of your skin or eyes.
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).
Statins linked to higher risk of diabetes and other health disorders. In functional medicine we recognize cholesterol as a vital compound in the body for multiple functions, including brain function and muscle strength.