What are the two downsides of taking statins?

While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people who take them and may rarely cause liver damage.

What are the two most common adverse effects of statins?

Side effects can vary between different statins, but common side effects include: headache. dizziness.

What can I take instead of statins to lower cholesterol?

Is statin worth the risk?

If you have high cholesterol and are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, you should consider statins. That's because the benefits of statins greatly outweigh the risks. Statins reduce the risk of serious cardiovascular events like heart attack or stroke by up to 25%, and death by 10%.

Can you get off statins once you start?

If you're taking a statin medication to lower your cholesterol, you will need to keep taking your prescription, or your cholesterol will likely go back up. Stopping your statin can put you at risk of having heart disease and other preventable health problems like stroke and heart attack from high cholesterol.

Statin Side Effects | Atorvastatin, Rosuvastatin, Simvastatin Side Effects

Why do people not want to take statins?

Fear of side effects and perceived side effects are the most common reasons for declining or discontinuing statin therapy. Willingness to take a statin is high, among both patients who have declined statin therapy and those who have never been offered one.

What does the Mayo Clinic say about statins?

Taking statins lowers your body's production of cholesterol and may lower your risk of heart attack, stroke and heart-related death. However, you may experience mild to severe statin side effects such as muscle aches, pain, weakness or other side effects, including asymptomatic liver damage.

Is there a safer alternative to statins?

There are many non-statin medications your doctor might prescribe: Bile acid-binding resins, like cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite, Questran), colesevelam (WelChol), and colestipol (Colestid) stick to cholesterol-rich bile acids in your intestines and lower your LDL levels.

Do statins make you gain weight?

Statin use is associated with increased calorie intake and consequent weight gain.

What reduces cholesterol quickly naturally?

Oatmeal, oat bran and high-fiber foods

Soluble fiber is also found in such foods as kidney beans, Brussels sprouts, apples and pears. Soluble fiber can reduce the absorption of cholesterol into your bloodstream. Five to 10 grams or more of soluble fiber a day decreases your LDL cholesterol.

Do statins dissolve plaque in arteries?

Statins help lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, also known as “bad” cholesterol, in the blood. They draw cholesterol out of plaque and stabilize plaque, Blaha says.

Why was Lipitor taken off the market?

Type 2 diabetes -- Lipitor may increase your blood sugar, which could lead to the development of type 2 diabetes. Even though the risk is low, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) considered it serious enough to include a warning regarding raised blood sugar and diabetes on all statin medication.

Do cardiologists recommend statins?

“Statins are recommended for people who have been diagnosed with heart disease, who have had a heart attack or stroke, have a stent, or who are known to have plaque in their body,” Dr. Jacoby explains. For a second group, statins intervene earlier, fending off potential health issues before they start.

Which drug should be avoided when taking statins?

Berberine should be avoided or used with caution when taking certain statin drugs, such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), lovastatin (Mevacor) and rosuvastatin (Crestor).

What is the controversy over statins?

Statins do not address the underlying cause of heart disease: Chronic inflammation. Statins may lower cholesterol, but they do not address the underlying cause of heart disease, which is typically chronic inflammation (some people are genetically predisposed to cardiovascular disease).

What is the best drug to lower cholesterol?

Statins — Statins are one of the best-studied classes of medications and the most commonly used drugs for lowering LDL cholesterol. They are the most effective drugs for prevention of coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, and death.

What should a 70 year old cholesterol be?

After having their cholesterol tested, seniors should be given a number between 190 and 260. Healthy seniors should keep their total cholesterol below 200 and their LDL cholesterol around 100. If your elderly loved one's LDL cholesterol level is above 160, he or she must start making sweeping lifestyle changes.

At what age are statins no longer recommended?

Adults age 75 and older may not need statins.

Their doctors usually prescribe statins to prevent heart disease. But for older people, there is no clear evidence that high cholesterol leads to heart disease or death.

Should a 70 year old take statins?

Gregg Fonarow, a spokesman for the American Heart Association. Guidelines in the United States recommend statin therapy for primary prevention in men and women regardless of age. The guidelines from the European Society of Cardiology, however, do not provide recommendations for statin use in older people, Fonarow said.

Why do some doctors not like statins?

Statin use has been linked to a higher risk of developing diabetes because the medication can fuel mild glucose elevations in predisposed individuals — an effect that can often be countervailed by exercise and losing as little as a few pounds.

What is a natural alternative to statin drugs?

For patients who can't tolerate cholesterol-lowering statins, natural remedies like bergamot, garlic and green tea may be a useful alternative, based on a recent statement published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Why do doctors love statins?

Statins are among the most prescribed medications because they have a mountain of evidence that they lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death in those at high risk for heart disease.