What are the disadvantages of using statins?

What is the downside to taking statins?

While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people who take them and may rarely cause liver damage.

Is taking statins a good idea?

Statins are drugs that can lower your cholesterol. They work by blocking a substance your body needs to make cholesterol. Lowering cholesterol isn't the only benefit associated with statins. These medications have also been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke.

What is the best statin to take with the least side effects?

According to a research review people who take simvastatin (Zocor) or pravastatin (Pravachol) may experience fewer side effects.

What can I take instead of statins to lower cholesterol?

Study Confirms What Many Patients Taking Statins Have Said for Years | NBC Nightly News

Can you get off statins once you start?

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.

What is the first drug of choice for 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.

Why do statins have to be taken at night?

So, why do people take statins at night? Many statins work more effectively when they are taken at night. This is because the enzyme which makes the cholesterol is more active at night. Also, the half-life, or the amount of time it takes for half the dose to leave your body, of some statins is short.

Is there a healthy alternative to statins?

Statin alternatives include some prescription medications like ezetimibe and fibric acids. Natural remedies that some people use to help treat high cholesterol include omega-3 fatty acids and red yeast rice extract. Before stopping a statin medication and trying an alternative, speak to a doctor or pharmacist.

Do statins make you gain weight?

Statin use is associated with increased calorie intake and consequent weight gain.

Do cardiologists recommend statins?

Those guidelines recommend statins for adults ages 40 to 75 who have a 7.5% or greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years, as opposed to a 10% risk.

Why do doctors love statins?

Statins are among the most prescribed medications because they have a mountain of evidence that they lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in those at high risk for heart disease.

Do the benefits of statins outweigh the risks?

It's important to remember that all medicines have side effects, and statins are no exception. However, for the majority of people taking statins, the benefits in terms of reduced risk of heart attack or stroke will outweigh the risk of side effects.

Are statins hard on your heart?

Statins don't just lower cholesterol levels but also reduce the risk of fatty plaques breaking off from walls of your arteries, reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Do statins clear blocked arteries?

A: Yes. There have been several clinical studies — many of them done here at Cleveland Clinic — that show statins can reverse plaque buildup. Two statins in particular, atorvastatin, which is sold under the brand name Lipitor, and rosuvastatin, which is sold under the brand name Crestor, are the strongest statins.

Can statins weaken the heart?

Context: Heart failure (HF) is rapidly increasing in incidence and is often present in patients receiving long-term statin therapy.

What natural remedy instead of statins?

Why was Lipitor taken off the market?

Type 2 diabetes -- Lipitor may increase your blood sugar, which could lead to the development of type 2 diabetes. Even though the risk is low, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) considered it serious enough to include a warning regarding raised blood sugar and diabetes on all statin medication.

What is a natural substitute for statin drugs?

Is there a new drug to replace statins?

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.

How long does it take for statins to reduce plaque?

Conversely, pathological studies have documented statin-induced changes in plaque composition as early as 3 months after therapy initiation.

What is the best statin to take?

Statins lower cholesterol levels through inhibition of HMG-CoA reductase. The synthetic and natural statins have essentially equivalent efficacy at improving the lipid profile. However, in patients who do not achieve their LDL goals, atorvastatin and simvastatin may be the best choices for initial therapy.

What is the safest anti cholesterol drug?

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.

What reduces cholesterol quickly naturally?

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.

Which cholesterol drug is safest for liver?

Based on records from the Swedish national registry, their results demonstrate that individuals who took a lipophilic statin (in this case atorvastatin or simvastatin) were at a significantly lower risk of developing liver cancer than those who were not taking a statin (3.3% versus 8.1%).