Satins Research Paper

Statins are drugs that can lower your cholesterol. They work by blocking a substance your body needs to make cholesterol. Statins may also help your body reabsorb cholesterol that has built up in plaques on your artery walls, preventing further blockage in your blood vessels and heart attacks.

Statins include medications such as atorvastatin (Lipitor), fluvastatin (Lescol), lovastatin (Altoprev), pitavastatin (Livalo), pravastatin (Pravachol), rosuvastatin (Crestor) and simvastatin (Zocor). Lower-cost generic versions of many statin medications are available.

Already shown to be effective in lowering cholesterol, statins may have other potential benefits. But doctors are far from knowing everything about statins. Are they right for everybody with high cholesterol? What kinds of side effects may occur? Can statins help prevent other diseases?

Should you be on a statin?

Whether you need to be on a statin depends on your cholesterol level, along with your other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Most people should try to keep their total cholesterol level below 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) (6.22 millimoles per liter, or mmol/L). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL, or "bad" cholesterol) should be below 100 mg/dL (3.37 mmol/L).

But the numbers alone won't tell you or your doctor the whole story. High cholesterol is only one of a number of risk factors for heart attack and stroke.

The most important factor to consider is a person's long-term risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. If the risk is very low, there is probably no need for statins, unless the LDL is above 190 mg/dL (4.9 mmol/L). If the risk is very high — for example, someone who has had a heart attack in the past — the person may benefit from statins, even if his or her cholesterol is not elevated.

Risk assessment tools

Your doctor may suggest using an online tool to better understand your long-term risks of developing heart

disease.

The American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association have recently developed an online tool to predict a person's chances of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. For people under the age of 50, the Framingham cardiovascular disease risk calculator might be a better option because it provides a 30-year risk prediction.

In addition to your cholesterol numbers, these risk calculators also ask about your age, race, sex, blood pressure and whether you have diabetes or smoke cigarettes.

New cholesterol guidelines

New guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association focus on four main groups of people who may be helped by statins:

People who already have cardiovascular disease. This group includes people who have had heart attacks, strokes caused by blockages in a blood vessel, mini-strokes (transient ischemic attacks), peripheral artery disease, or prior surgery to open or replace coronary arteries.
People who have very high LDL (bad) cholesterol. This group includes adults who have LDL cholesterol levels of 190 mg/dL (4.9 mmol/L) or higher.
People who have diabetes. This group includes adults who have diabetes and an LDL between 70 and 189 mg/dL (1.8 and 4.9 mmol/L), especially if they have evidence of vascular disease.
People who have a higher 10-year risk of heart attack. This group includes people who have an LDL above 100 mg/dL (1.8 mmol/L) and whose 10-year risk of a heart attack is 7.5 percent or higher.