What medicines help control cholesterol?
The benefits of reducing total and LDL cholesterol levels with medication (below and chart on lipid-lowering drugs) have been clearly demonstrated by a number of well-designed studies. Recently, results from the Heart Protection Study, which examined the effects of long-term therapy with simvastatin, a type of statin drug, in more than 20,500 people, found that statin therapy reduced the incidence of heart attacks and strokes by about one third. Statins were effective not only in people with existing heart disease but also in people at high risk for heart attack, including those with diabetes, peripheral arterial disease, or a history of stroke. Moreover, people with pretreatment LDL cholesterol levels within the normal range--or even less than 100 mg/dL--benefited from statin therapy.
Five classes of lipid-lowering medications are available:
