Cholesterol-lowering-medicines-statins

Introduction

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Too much cholesterol in the body causes coronary disease such as angina, heart attack and stroke. Dr Jonathan Morrell explains who is at risk and the treatments available

Statins are cholesterol-lowering medicines. They may be used to treat:

Primary hypercholesterolaemia: a high level of cholesterol in the blood, usually due to lifestyle factors such as a diet high in fat or not doing enough exercise.
Familial hypercholesterolaemia: a high blood cholesterol level due to inheriting a gene which means your liver makes lots of cholesterol.

They may also be used to reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke if you have:

angina (chest pain) or have previously had a heart attack,
transient ischaemic attacks (mini strokes) or have previously had a stroke,
peripheral vascular disease (narrowing of blood vessels, usually in the legs),
diabetes and are over 40, or
diabetes and are under 40 but have other risk factors for heart disease such as poor blood sugar control, high blood pressure or a family history of heart disease in a relative younger than 40.

show glossary terms

Blood

Blood supplies oxygen to the body and removes carbon dioxide. It is pumped around the body by the heart.

Familial

Familial is when a non-inherited disease or condition tends to affect more members of the same family, than other families in the general population.

Gene

Genes contain information that you inherit from your parents, such as eye or hair colour. They are carried by chromosomes.

Liver

The liver is the largest organ in the body. Its main jobs are to secrete bile (to help digestion), detoxify the blood and change food into energy.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a fatty substance made by the body that lives in blood and tissue. It is used to make bile acid, hormones and vitamin D.

Heart attack

A heart attack happens when there is a blockage in one of the arteries in the heart.

Angina

Angina is chest pain caused by a reduced flow of blood to the heart, typically resulting from heart disease.

Pain

Pain is an unpleasant physical or emotional feeling that your body produces as a warning sign that it has been damaged.

Disease

A disease is an illness or condition that interferes with normal body functions.

Blood vessels

Blood vessels are the tubes in which blood travels to and from parts of the body. The three main types of blood vessels are veins, arteries and capillaries.

Heart

The heart is a muscular organ that pumps blood around the body.

High blood pressure

Hypertension is when the pressure of the blood in your bloodstream is regularly above 140/90 mmHG.

Last reviewed: 24/01/2008

Next review due: 23/01/2010

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Comments

2 Comments about ‘Introduction’

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brianfromenfield said on 01 December 2009

I am surprised that no reference is made to the risks of statins (I actually wanted to find out about these).

Also it is notable that Mr Parker (and most of the literature concerning cholesterol reducing foods/drugs/exercises) does not quantify the benefits - i.e. how much can I expect to reduce my cholesterol by doing various things? I believe I read once that diet can give a maximum reduction of only about half a micromole whereas my cholesterol needs reducing by several micromoles so special diets may well be an unpleasant waste of effort! But no one tells you.

laryparker said on 01 October 2009

Some changes in your diet that may reduce your cholesterol. Oats, in the unprocessed form have been proven to reduce cholesterol. Using soy products such as soymilk can reduce your cholesterol. Exercise, as little as half an hour; thrice a a week, has been shown results of lower cholesterol. Ateronon, is a one a day food supplement, which contains 7mg of Lycopene.It is proven to reduce ‘bad cholesterol’ which causes fatty deposits and blocks arteries.

Cholesterol lowering medicines, statins