What Is Believed To Be Qualities Of All Statin Medications:

Statins are a class of medications specifically prescribed to lower LDL- one

of five lipid parameters of a person’s lipid profile, which is alto the name
of the blood test to measure these parameters. They are beneficial for
those patients with dyslipidemia and cardiovascular disease, primarialy.

There are about 6 available statins to choose for lipid management as

needed- with three that are combination drugs that have a statin included
in these drugs.

There are other classes of medications for lipid management, such as bile
acid sequestrantsand nicotinic acid, which is known as niacin. Yet the side
effect profile is more unfavorable of these classes of medications
compared with the statinclass of drugs.

One’s cholesterol level is primarily due to how they produce cholesterol in their
liver, which is overall genetically determined. This level is also determined by one’s
lifestyle and diet as well. If a person has too much cholesterol in their blood, it can
lead to hardening and narrowing of their arteries as well as the formation of
coronary plaques in the coronaryarteries.

If these plaques break off of the arterial wall, this leads to a myocardial infarction, or
heart attack. Statins are believed to stabilizecoronary plaques so this does not
occur.

To measure one’s cholesterol, a blood test called a lipid profile is obtained from a
person after they have fasted for at least 12 hours. The test should also be
performed only if the person is free of any acute illness, as this may affect true lipid
measures.

If the results prove to be abnormal, lipid altering medicinal therapy may be

initiated- according to the discretion of the person’s health care provider. This
therapy usually involves a statin medication.

Adverse events associated with the statin class of pharmaceuticals are thought to
occur more often than they are reported- with high doses of statins prescribed to
patients in particular at times that may not be necessary to control their
dyslipidemia based on their lipid profile. Side effects may include muscle pain, or
possible damage to the patient’s liver.

However, since this class of statin drugs has existed for use for over 20 years,
statins are considered to be overall safe and effective for enhancing the clearance
of LDL noted to be elevated in the lipid profiles of patients.

Also, they have proven to reduce cardiovascular mortality with one who is treated
with a statin that has dyslipidemia. In addition to lowering LDL by up to about 60
percent- depending on the choice of the statin prescribed for the patient, and how
high the LDL cholesterol is in a patient.

This class of drugs also has the ability to raise their HDL lipid parameter as well as
lower to their benefit their triglycerideparameter of their lipid profile. Both of these
additional effects in addition to lowering the LDL parameter from taking a statin
drug is ultimately beneficial for the patient on a statin drug for lipid management.

Statin therapy is also recommended for those patients who have a greater than
twenty percent risk of developing cardiovascular disease, or those patients that
have clinical evidence of this disease.

Additionally, there appears to be no comparable reduction in cardiovascular

morbidity or mortality, as well as a difference in the increase of one’s lifespan, if one
is on any particular statinmedication for their lipid management over another,
others have concluded. So caution should perhaps be considered if one chooses to
prescribe a statin for a patient if they are absent of, or have only mild
dyslipidemiato a significant degree.

Furthermore, research should be done by the health care provider if they are under
the belief that one statinmedication provides a greater cardiovascular benefit over
another. In other words, the health care provider should be assured that any choice
of statin therapy for their patients should be considered reasonable and necessary if
the LDL in their patients need to be reduced.

Furthermore, the statin selection should be determined by the results that have
been shown with a particular statin.

There exist abstract etiologies for health care providers at times to choose to
prescribe statin drugs on occasion for reasons not indicated with the medicinal
treatment of these statindrugs. Examples include the speculated benefits
associated with statins- such as reducing CRP levels, or for Alzheimer’s treatment,
or other reasons not directly related to cholesterol management.

Statin therapy for such patients may not be considered appropriate, reasonable, or
necessary prophylaxis at this point for any patient who does not have the
indications for which statins are approved for to treat patients with dyslipidemia.

All other benefits that appear to have favorable effects in such areas not involved
with a patient's cholesterol are suggested at this point due to minimal research in
these other variables aside from lipid management.

Other reasons for placing a patient on a statin drug at this time require further
research for these disease states and dysfunctions that may exist with a patient
aside from dyslipidemia.
Statins as a class of drugs seemto in fact decrease the risk of cardiovascular events
significantly, it has been proven. Statinsalso decrease thrombus formation as well
as modulate inflammatory responses (CRP) as additional benefits of the medication.

For those patients with dyslipidemia who are placed on a statin, the effects of that
statin on reducing a patient’s LDL level can be measured after about five weeks of
therapy on a particular statindrug.

Liver Function blood tests are recommended for those patients on continued statin
therapy, and most are chronically taking statins for the rest of their lives to manage
their lipid profile in regards to maintaining the suitable LDL level for a particular
patient presently. Patients should be made aware of potential additional side effects
as well, such as myopathy and muscular dysfunctions that occur on occasion when
one is on statin therapy.

Yet some have said that about half of all strokes and heart attacks that do occur are
not because of increased cholesterol levels of these patients. So it appears clear
that high cholesterol may not be an absolute for cardiovascular events for them to
occur.

Others believe that it is oxidized cholesterol that causes vulnerable plaques to form
on coronary arterial walls, which is the catalyst for a heart attack, and that there is
no medicinal treatment for the formation or stabilization of these plaques to prevent
heart attacks or strokes.

Some who support statin medicinal therapy for their clinically appropriate patients
claim that these drugs, do, in fact, stabilize these plaques as an added benefit, and
therefore are beneficial.

As stated previously, in regards to other uses of statins besides just primarily LDL
reduction, there is some evidence to suggest that statins have other benefits
besides lowering LDL, but not enough evidence yet.

These other disease states include aside from what has been stated already, such
as those patients with neurological disease, as well as statinsbeing beneficial for
certain cancer patients. Some have suggested that statins interfere with cancer
treatment with bladder cancer patients as well. Yet again, these other roles for
statintherapy have only been minimally explored and researched, comparatively
speaking.

Because of the limited evidence regarding additional benefits of statin medications,

the drug should again be prescribed for those with dyslipidemia only at this time
involving elevated LDL levels as detected in the patient’s bloodstream.

Yet overall, the existing cholesterol lowering recommendations or guidelines should

possibly be re-evaluated. The cholesterol guidelines that presently exist may be
over-exaggerated possibly due to tacit suggestions from the makers of statins to
those who create these current lipid lowering guidelines.
This is notable if one chooses to compare these cholesterol guidelines with the other
guidelines that have existed in the past. The cholesterol guidelines that exist now
are considered by many health care providers and experts to be rather
unreasonable and unnecessary, as well as possibly have the potential to be
detrimental to a patient’s health.

Yet statinsare beneficial medications for those many people that exist with elevated
LDL levels that can cause cardiovascular events to occur because of this
abnormality. What that ideal LDL level is may have yet to be empirically
determined.

Finally, a focus on children and their lifestyles should be amplified so their arteries
do not become those of one who is middle-aged, and this may prevent them from
being candidates for statintherapy now and in the future, regarding the high
cholesterol issue. Treating children with a statin drug for dyslipidemia is
controversial presently. Dietary management should be the first consideration in
regards to correcting lipid dysfunctions that may exist in patients.

www.americanheart.org

Dan Abshear