Lower Your Cholesterol
Reported September 25, 2007
BOSTON (Ivanhoe Broadcast News) — If you have high cholesterol, your doctor has probably talked to you about statins. Touted by some as “wonder drugs,” these meds can lower bad cholesterol levels by up to 50 percent. But like all powerful drugs, some people will experience powerful side effects.
“If you have angina, have had a heart attack, stent or bypass, you have to take a statin,” Linda Hemphill, M.D., a preventive cardiologist with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, tells Ivanhoe.
But it’s not always that simple. Kathleen Salvadore tried every statin out there but suffered side effects like muscle aches and sickness.
“The worst part about even going through all those side effects, it wasn’t really lowering my cholesterol. My cholesterol went up,” says Salvadore.
What did work? Chinese red-yeast-rice. The active ingredient is actually a statin, but some patients can handle this supplement better than the prescription form.
“So, it is an option when your back is really up against the wall,” says Dr. Hemphill.
Other alternatives? The drug Zetia can be combined with a lower dose statin. There’s high-dose niacin. It’s great for raising good cholesterol levels, HDL, but comes with side effects. There are also the prescription fibrate drugs, but these also work more to boost good cholesterol than lower bad. One of the oldest methods is taking bile acid binders. You can reduce LDL levels by 18 percent with mild side effects.
In one study, people who followed the portfolio diet saw a 30-percent reduction in bad cholesterol, a result similar to statins. And exercising frequently can lower cholesterol by up to 20 percent.
For more information, please contact:
Linda Hemphill, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston Heart Associates
(617) 726-4150