Cholesterol lowering drugs have been used for quite a long time now. Originally the most often prescribed ones were statins, however recently the most commonly prescribed cholesterol lowering drugs have been Vytorin and Zetia. Lately though, it appears many physicians are actually going back to prescribing statins because they are finding these latest additions have just not been effective at reducing cholesterol levels. Statins are very effective at reducing high cholesterol levels, but unfortunately they also bring with them some severe health concerns as part of their side effects.
One organ in your body that is particularly susceptible to damage by statins is your liver. This is due to the fact that statins mess around with the enzymes in your liver and an increase in certain enzymes which is allowed to build up over a significant period of time will ultimately lead to your liver being severely damaged. It is not just statins that do this though, a drug that we mentioned earlier, Zetia also can list liver damage as one of its side effects along with a whole host of other side effects too. The challenge with liver damage is that it does not have any early warning signals and therefore strikes without any prior symptoms; thus if you on cholesterol lowering drugs make sure you get your liver checked regularly.
Probably the most common side effects of statins is the muscle pains that are created. There are several reasons behind this muscle pain but one of the main reasons is because for the statins to be effective they have to suppress the enzyme that creates the LDL cholesterol in the first place. Unfortunately, there is another enzyme attached to this one which is also affected, and this enzyme is not only a significant antioxidant that keeps the amount of free radicals in your body down, it is in fact a source of energy to every single cell in your body and long term deprivation of it can lead to serious health concerns such as the severe muscle pains and muscle weakness. In addition to that do not forget the heart is a muscle, and this too can be weakened and therefore heart failure is also one of the side effects of using statins.
A further well documented side effect of statins is in the effect that it has on the brain. You see, ultimately we do need this LDL cholesterol within our bodies as it does several important functions, and one of them is carrying fats to our brain which are needed for them to function properly. Therefore when we have high cholesterol levels we are not looking to totally in eliminate LDL, just reduce the amount that there is to a safe level. Unfortunately cholesterol lowering drugs such as statins can take this too far and therefore there is not enough LDL being produced which means our brains will not function properly. The net effect of this can be poor memory and concentration, but more worryingly a lot of researchers are now starting to link the lack of LDL with the development of Alzheimer's disease.
At the end of the day the final decision is yours as to whether you use cholesterol lowering drugs or not. If you do have a family history of high cholesterol or there are other medical reasons for you to be on these kinds of medication then possibly you want to go with your doctor's advice on it. However, if it is simply excess LDL that you have in your blood there is now more and more evidence that changing certain aspects of your lifestyle can be beneficial in helping to reduce cholesterol levels too. The plus side is the changes do not have to be too drastic either; they can be as simple as losing a little bit of weight, exercising frequently and cutting back on foods that contain saturated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils.
One organ in your body that is particularly susceptible to damage by statins is your liver. This is due to the fact that statins mess around with the enzymes in your liver and an increase in certain enzymes which is allowed to build up over a significant period of time will ultimately lead to your liver being severely damaged. It is not just statins that do this though, a drug that we mentioned earlier, Zetia also can list liver damage as one of its side effects along with a whole host of other side effects too. The challenge with liver damage is that it does not have any early warning signals and therefore strikes without any prior symptoms; thus if you on cholesterol lowering drugs make sure you get your liver checked regularly.
Probably the most common side effects of statins is the muscle pains that are created. There are several reasons behind this muscle pain but one of the main reasons is because for the statins to be effective they have to suppress the enzyme that creates the LDL cholesterol in the first place. Unfortunately, there is another enzyme attached to this one which is also affected, and this enzyme is not only a significant antioxidant that keeps the amount of free radicals in your body down, it is in fact a source of energy to every single cell in your body and long term deprivation of it can lead to serious health concerns such as the severe muscle pains and muscle weakness. In addition to that do not forget the heart is a muscle, and this too can be weakened and therefore heart failure is also one of the side effects of using statins.
A further well documented side effect of statins is in the effect that it has on the brain. You see, ultimately we do need this LDL cholesterol within our bodies as it does several important functions, and one of them is carrying fats to our brain which are needed for them to function properly. Therefore when we have high cholesterol levels we are not looking to totally in eliminate LDL, just reduce the amount that there is to a safe level. Unfortunately cholesterol lowering drugs such as statins can take this too far and therefore there is not enough LDL being produced which means our brains will not function properly. The net effect of this can be poor memory and concentration, but more worryingly a lot of researchers are now starting to link the lack of LDL with the development of Alzheimer's disease.
At the end of the day the final decision is yours as to whether you use cholesterol lowering drugs or not. If you do have a family history of high cholesterol or there are other medical reasons for you to be on these kinds of medication then possibly you want to go with your doctor's advice on it. However, if it is simply excess LDL that you have in your blood there is now more and more evidence that changing certain aspects of your lifestyle can be beneficial in helping to reduce cholesterol levels too. The plus side is the changes do not have to be too drastic either; they can be as simple as losing a little bit of weight, exercising frequently and cutting back on foods that contain saturated fats or hydrogenated vegetable oils.
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If you would like to discover more about natural ways to lower your cholesterol levels that are as effective as cholesterol lowering drugs, then make sure you visit http://www.clobbercholesterol.com to see what nature can do for you without the side effects of statins.
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