Statins

What are statins and what are they used for? 

Statins are a class of drug used to lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood. In today’s World, the word cholesterol has negative connotations and thoughts of cardiovascular disease immediately spring to mind. As a result of all this bad press it can be easily missed that cholesterol is an essential material in our bodies. It is an integral part of our cell membranes, increasing rigidity and influencing the properties of this boundary. HDL is normally referred to as good cholesterol as it is this that will take cholesterol plague lining the arteries and deposit it in the liver. LDL and VLDL on the other hand create this plague so it is the formation of these that statins aim to interfere with.     

Cholesterol taken in to our bodies from a diet actually makes up quite a small proportion of the cholesterol circulating in our bodies, the majority is created in our liver. Statins reduce the production of LDL’s by competitively inhibiting HMG – CoA reductase. This is the first enzyme in a long chain of chemical reactions that lead to the creation of cholesterol. This decrease in the concentration of cholesterol in the liver promotes the uptake of LDL’s already in the blood so the mechanism is doubly effective. This production of cholesterol occurs mostly at night which explains why statins are taken before going to sleep.            

Side effects? 

Despite their wide use statins can actually have numerous quite severe consequences. The main two are muscle damage and raised liver enzymes. Their benefits also rely on patients understanding the workings of statins. Many assume that these drugs are a miracle cure to their cholesterol problems and continue with their previous diet if not increasing their intake of fatty foods. This negates the workings of the statins. These people are then still increasing their risk of heart disease yet believe the matter is being taken care of.