What are Statin Drugs?

Cholesterol is required to build healthy cells and perform other bodily functions, but high levels can be dangerous. When cholesterol collects in your body, it hardens your arteries and coats them with plaque - a process known as atherosclerosis. This leads to an increased risk of stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular diseases. This is why high LDL (low density lipoids, bad) and total cholesterol levels are worrisome.

In addition to the 200-300 mg of cholesterol you consume each day, your liver produces an additional 1000 mg for all those cell building activities. The HMG-CoA reductase pathway is a system that allows this production of cholesterol, and statins are a classification of chemicals that inhibit HMG-CoA reductase. Basically, they prevent your liver from producing cholesterol. When intercellular cholesterol levels drop, the liver is nudged into creating more LDL receptors. LDL receptors are responsible for grabbing a hold of LDL particles and removing them from the blood.

statins = less cholesterol = more LDL receptors = less cholesterol in blood

Cholesterol lowering medications that contain statin do just this. They inhibit your body's ability to create cholesterol, and enhance it's ability to remove it from your bloodstream.

There are several popular statins on the market that you may have read about in magazines or seen on TV:

Lipitor (atorvastatin)
Zocor (simvastatin)
Crestor (rosuvastatin)
Lescol (fluvastatin)
Pravachol (pravastatin)
Mevacor (lovastatin)

Vytorin is a combination statin (simvastatin) and ezetimibe. Ezetimibe reduces the body's ability to absorb cholesterol from food.

Each has works in a slightly different way, has slightly different side effects, and lowers LDL and raises HDL levels to varying degrees.

The math of nutrition states that we should be able to regulate our cholesterol by steering clear of foods that contain trans fats and eating more of the good fats contained in nuts and avocados. Family history suggests otherwise. Familial hypercholesterolemia is the genetic mutation that causes the body to have a reduced number of LDL receptors. This is where statins can be particularly helpful.

As with any medication that changes your body chemistry, statins come with their own list of side effects that range from gastrointestinal disturbances to muscle pain and weakness to kidney and liver disorders. With so many options available, you can work with your doctor to find the one that works best for you.