Statins

What are statins?

Statins are a group of medicines used to lower cholesterol levels. They include atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Mevacor), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor), and simvastatin (Zocor).

When are statins used?

Statins are used to:

lower cholesterol levels
reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other heart disease.

How do statins work?

Cholesterol is a type of fat. It has both good and bad effects on the body. Your body uses cholesterol to make hormones and to build and maintain nerve cells. Your body makes some cholesterol and gets the rest from foods such as meats, dairy products, and eggs.

When your body has too much cholesterol, deposits of fat called plaque form on the inside of blood vessel walls. The blood vessel walls get thicker and the open area inside the vessels gets narrower (a condition called atherosclerosis). This lets less blood flow through the blood vessels, which can cause heart attacks or strokes.

Statins slow down the production of cholesterol. Statins lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. They slightly increase the amount of HDL (good) cholesterol. Statins also increase the liver's ability to remove the LDL-cholesterol already in the blood.

How can I take care of myself?

Your health care provider will want to see you regularly to check on your progress and to adjust your dosage, if necessary. You will need blood tests to see if the medicine is working. You may also have liver function tests to see how the medicine may be affecting your liver. Keep all your appointments. You should begin to see results from the statins after several weeks.

Take all medicines exactly as prescribed. Do not take any other medicines including nonprescription drugs, without letting your health care provider know.
If you are overweight, ask your provider for help with weight control.
Eat a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet.
Exercise regularly according to your health care provider's recommendations.

When should I call my health care provider?

Rarely, statins may cause serious muscle damage. Symptoms of severe muscle damage include:

muscle pain
pain
weakness
brown urine.

Report these side effects to your health care provider right away.

Disclaimer: This content is reviewed periodically and is subject to change as new health information becomes available. The information provided is intended to be informative and educational and is not a replacement for professional medical evaluation, advice, diagnosis or treatment by a healthcare professional.

HIA File MED4279F.HTM Release 9.0/2006