Cardiovascular Disease.

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE IS A CONDITION OF THE HEART THAT INCLUDES DISEASED VESSELS, BLOOD CLOTS AND CORONARY STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS. 

High cholesterol, also known as hypercholesterolemia, is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Abnormal levels of LDL cholesterol or HDL cholesterol are treated with a low-fat diet, exercise, and medications such as statins.

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Conditions

When you have high cholesterol, the first thing to do is to change your diet and fitness: less saturated fat, no trans-fat, and more activity.

If that doesn’t bring down your “bad” (LDL) cholesterol enough, your doctor may suggest that you also take medicine to help out, while keeping a healthy diet and exercise regime. 

There are several different types of prescription drugs that lower LDL.  The Most Common Cholesterol Meds: Statins

These are usually the first type of drug that doctors prescribe to lower LDL. They also lower triglycerides, which are another type of blood fat, and mildly raise your "good" (HDL) cholesterol.

The Newest Type of Drug: PCSK9 Inhibitors.  These drugs are used in people who can’t manage their cholesterol through lifestyle and statin treatments. They block a protein called PCSK9 to make it easier for the body to remove LDL from your blood.

They are mainly used in adults who inherit a genetic condition called “heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia” that makes it hard to bring down their cholesterol level, or for people who had heart disease and need more than a statin. You get them as a shot every 2 weeks.

 

Medications

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Livalo is a statin that has been proven to help manage both LDL (bad) and HDL (good) cholesterol

LIVALO belongs to a class of medications called statins. LIVALO, as well as all other statins, has been shown to effectively reduce the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the bloodstream. As a class of medications, statins are widely prescribed to manage cholesterol because they have also been proven to help reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke. In addition, statins improve good cholesterol levels by increasing HDL-C.

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LIVALO, along with a low-cholesterol, heart-healthy diet and regular exercise, may help improve overall cholesterol levels. This means LIVALO can help reduce your LDL (bad) cholesterol levels while increasing your HDL (good) cholesterol.

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How does LIVALO help reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol?

LIVALO and other statins work by helping to block the key enzyme (or substance) that your liver needs to help it make LDL (bad) cholesterol, and they also help to remove cholesterol from the bloodstream. Statins may also help your body re-absorb and remove cholesterol that has built up on your artery walls. This may help prevent more blockages from forming in your blood vessels. Because these blockages could lead to heart attacks or stroke, it's important to try to prevent them, and even reverse them, whenever possible.

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However, all statins are not the same. Unlike some other commonly prescribed statins, LIVALO may be less likely to cause certain drug interactions because it is processed differently in the body than most other statin medications.

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Many doctors choose to prescribe LIVALO because there is a reduced risk of LIVALO interacting with other medicines; so LIVALO may be right for people taking medications to treat other medical conditions.

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ENTRESTO is a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of death and hospitalization in people with certain types of long-lasting (chronic) heart failure. It may help you live longer and lower your chance of having to go to the hospital for heart failure. This product contains 2 medications that work by relaxing blood vessels so that blood can flow more easily, which makes it easier for your heart to pump blood to your body.

PRALUENT (alirocumab) is an injectable prescription medicine used along with diet and statin therapy in adults to lower high levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) in the blood. Praluent works in the liver to increase the clearing of the LDL.

Repatha (evolocumab) is a prescription medication indicated as an adjunct to diet and maximally tolerated statin therapy for the treatment of adults with familial high cholesterol or clinical atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, who require additional lowering of LDL cholesterol. It works by inhibiting a certain antibody thereby reducing your cholesterol levels.

 

More Information

Adherence to therapy is critical to avoid the long term effects of high cholesterol, which could be a cardiovascular event or stroke.