If you stop medications to lower your cholesterol, does that hurt you? Cholesterol-lowering drugs have benefits, but they also come with a few side effects, as do most medications. This may lead you to wonder if it’s worth it. In other cases, you may have been taking cholesterol medication for a year or longer. Your doctor says your blood levels are perfect and you feel fine. Is staying on your drug regimen really necessary? People with high cholesterol are at a higher risk for heart disease.
Statins are a class of drug that reduces levels of low-density lipoprotein LDL cholesterol in the blood. Statins are some of the only cholesterol lowering drugs that demonstrably reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke. This article explores why a person may want to come off statins and the risks of stopping this type of medication. We also provide a list of alternative treatment options. LDL deposits restrict blood flow through the arteries and cause inflammation, which increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Second, they help the liver reabsorb and break down cholesterol that is already in the walls of the arteries. Statins also have anti-inflammatory effects. As with all drugs, however, a small minority of people experience mild to severe side effects when taking statins.
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Reuters Health – Stopping a cholesterol-lowering drug because of a muscle ache or stomach pain can be dangerous in the long run, suggests a new study. Researchers found that people who stopped taking statins after reporting a side effect were 13 percent more likely to die or have a heart attack or stroke over the next four years than people who kept taking the drugs. Statins include the drugs atorvastatin, known commercially as Lipitor; rosuvastatin, also known as Crestor, and simvastatin, or Zocor. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The drugs are almost universally prescribed to people with heart disease. Additionally, the U. Preventive Services Task Force recommends the drugs to people ages 40 to 75 years without a history of heart disease who have one or more risk factors and a year risk of a heart attack or stroke of at least 10 percent. Despite the overwhelming evidence in favor of statins, a quarter to a half of patients stop taking the drugs within six months to a year, Dr.