The drugs can reduce a patient’s LDL cholesterol by around thirty—sometimes even fifty—percent with high doses. A meta-analysis of 27 randomized trials, showed that statin therapy helped reduce adverse cardiovascular events by twenty to twenty-five percent.
Are statins right for me?
The reason statins are so widely prescribed is because they work. They’re often prescribed as the first level of defense. This isn’t to say that they’re the only way to get your cholesterol levels down. Dropping weight, moving more, and changing your diet can also make big shifts. Still, sometimes lifestyle changes alone are not enough.
“Diet can lower LDL by about ten to fifteen percent which may be sufficient for some people to achieve their LDL goal level,” said McGowan. “However, there are many people for whom diet is insufficient either because they already have cardiovascular disease or because they have genetic conditions.”
Depending on what your doctor advises, a combination of lifestyle changes and medications might be necessary. People more prone to heart disease or stroke, including men over forty, should also think more seriously about medication.
What are the side effects of statins?
Statins come with a number of potential side effects. Some of these can be relatively minor like dizziness, constipation, or flatulence. They can also include things like muscle pain. More rarely, statins have been associated with things like memory loss, liver inflammation, and an increase in diabetes. Board-certified cardiologist R. Todd Hurst found that in his clinical experience side effects impacted about ten percent of people, which was similar to the numbers found in research trials, with the most-common side effect being sore muscles.
Ideally, statins are paired with a healthy lifestyle
For many experts, lifestyle changes take center stage, especially as preventative measures.
“Many people prefer to avoid taking medications and try to lower their cholesterol, as statins have been shown to increase cortisol, which in turn trigger a chain reaction with your body’s natural hormone production,” said Dr. Darren Clair, Chief Medical Officer at Rebalance Health. “Eating a whole food plant-based diet, as well as managing stress, getting enough quality sleep, and maintaining natural, healthy hormone levels in a comprehensive manner is the best way to achieve optimal health and minimize your risk of all chronic health conditions including heart disease.”
But the best course of action for figuring out whether or not you should be using statins is always going to be talking things through with a medical professional and chatting about the potential cost/benefits. But if you’re a person who is at higher risk for a cardiovascular event—again looking at men over forty and overweight folks—then that might be a conversation you want to be having sooner rather than later.
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