The first step in treatment for high cholesterol might be making lifestyle changes, such as following a heart-healthy diet and increasing physical activity. However, if this doesn’t work (or is not enough) to lower cholesterol levels, medications may be necessary.
“Because we know that high-dose statins have a much higher effectiveness in lowering cholesterol, typically, in most patients that a cardiologist is seeing, we choose to use a high-dose or a moderate-dose of a statin in order to lower cholesterol levels,” says Dr. Michelle W. Bloom, cardio-oncologist at Stony Brook Medical Center. While statins are the mainstay treatment against high cholesterol, they’re not the only ones. Here are other medical treatments for high cholesterol.
Dr. Bloom is a Cardiologist, an Associate Professor of Medicine at Stony Brook University Medical Center, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the Heart Failure Society of America.
References
American Heart Association. (2020). Cholesterol medications.
American Heart Association. (2020). What is cholesterol?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023). High cholesterol facts.
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