Hypercholesterolemia Treatment

Hypercholesterolemia Treatment

Treatment for hypercholesterolemia begins with lifestyle changes, including following strict dietary guidelines and increasing one’s amount of daily exercise. There is some evidence that a vegetarian diet is beneficial.

In addition to lifestyle changes, the patient’s doctor may recommend one or more medications to lower LDL and/or triglyceride levels.

The most common types of drugs used to control hypercholesterolemia are:

• Statins. These are drugs that block the liver from using a substance it needs to make cholesterol. As the level of cholesterol in the liver drops, the liver begins to remove excess cholesterol from the bloodstream.

• Bile acid-binding resins. These are drugs that work by prompting the liver to make more bile acid; to do this, the liver needs to draw cholesterol from the blood.

• Cholesterol absorption inhibitors. These medications work by limiting the amount of cholesterol that the small intestine can absorb from food.

• Fibrates. These are drugs that speed up the removal of triglycerides from the bloodstream.

• Niaspan. Niaspan is a prescription form of niacin (a B vitamin) that works by limiting the liver’s ability to produce VLDL and LDL cholesterol.