Crestor Benefits

Crestor^® (rosuvastatin calcium) is a prescription drug approved for treating high cholesterol and high triglycerides. It can also be used as an add-on treatment for people with familial hypercholesterolemia to help lower cholesterol levels.

In people who do not yet have heart disease but have certain risk factors for heart disease, Crestor is approved to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and heart bypasses (or other revascularization procedures).

The medicine works by blocking a particular enzyme that controls the rate of cholesterol production in the body. This action causes the liver to make less cholesterol and also increases the liver's ability to collect and get rid of LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol).

By lowering LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol and increasing HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol), Crestor can theoretically benefit your body by helping to reduce the risk of certain health problems associated with high cholesterol, such as heart disease or heart attack.

In clinical studies in people with high cholesterol, Crestor was shown to (on average) decrease LDL cholesterol by 63 percent, decrease total cholesterol by 46 percent, and raise HDL cholesterol by 14 percent.

(Click Crestor Uses to learn more about the benefits of Crestor, to find out what else this drug is used for, and for information on Crestor use in children.)