Cholesterol Medications

If you have high cholesterol, your healthcare provider may recommend medications for cholesterol treatment. The five major types of medications for reducing cholesterol are statins, bile acid sequestrants, nicotinic acid, fibrates, and cholesterol absorption inhibitors. Your doctor may combine medications to enhance your cholesterol lowering, reverse or slow the advance of atherosclerosis, and further decrease the chance of a heart attack or related death.

Cholesterol Management

Cholesterol Medications: An Overview

Lifestyle changes are the first line of treatment for

lowering cholesterol; however, for some people, treating high cholesterol with diet, weight control, and exercise is not enough. If lifestyle changes alone are not enough, your doctor can prescribe cholesterol medications.

Your healthcare provider will base his or her decision to prescribe medications on more than just the results of a cholesterol test. He or she will also look to see if you are at risk for heart disease from other problems. The more heart disease risk factors you have, the lower your LDL cholesterol level needs to be.

(Click Heart Attack Risk to determine your 10-year risk.)

If your doctor does recommend medications for cholesterol, there are many options. The type of medication your doctor recommends will be based on many things, like your cholesterol levels and other medical conditions.

The five major types of cholesterol medications are:

Statins
Bile acid sequestrants
Nicotinic acid
Fibrates
Cholesterol absorption inhibitors.

Treatment with cholesterol medications controls but does not "cure" high cholesterol. Therefore, you must continue taking your medicine to keep your cholesterol level in the recommended range.

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