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(lovastatin)
Mevacor®, or lovastatin, is a cholesterol lowering drug. It stops the liver from producing cholesterol. It lowers overall cholesterol, including LDL (the bad kind of cholesterol). LDL is usually treated with diet and exercise, but if that does not work, a doctor may prescribe Mevacor®, or the generic form lovastatin.
If you think you suffer from high cholesterol, and are concerned about your health, then talk to a doctor to see if Mevacor® or lovastatin is right for you.
With Mevacor® , or lovastatin, side effects tend to be rare. Minor side effects include: constipation, diarrhea, gas, heartburn, headache, and insomnia. Some major side effects of Mevacor® can include: abdominal pain and/or cramps, blurred vision, dizziness, itching, muscle pain or cramps, rash, and yellowing of the skin or eyes.
Side effects are difficult to predict. Some side effects are normal, while other side effects are not. Always discuss any side effects you are experiencing while taking any prescription medication, including Mevacor®, with your doctor.
Statin drugs, which promise to reduce the levels of bad (LDL) cholesterol in the body while improving the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol, are the fastest-growing class of prescription drugs in the world, but increasing evidence shows they may not be safe, and Canadian health officials are warning that statins can cause serious muscle damage.
Health Canada is now requiring manufacturers of statin drugs such as Lipitor, Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor and Crestor to include warnings and information about the potential for muscle damage on patient safety information sheets, according to the Toronto Star.
General muscle pain is a side effect frequently experienced by patients on statin drugs. The drugs may also lead to a potentially fatal muscle-wasting disease called rhabdomyolysis in patients with certain pre-existing medical conditions. In this potentially deadly disease, muscle cells are destroyed and released into the bloodstream and can cause patients to suffer kidney failure.
Health Canada spokesperson Jirina Vlk told the Toronto Star the new warnings are a "precautionary measure" because so many Canadians are prescribed statin drugs to treat high cholesterol. "There's a high number of Canadians prescribed statins, so we want them to be aware of the risks associated with that," Vlk said.
Likewise, in the United States, millions of people are prescribed statin drugs. In 2001, Americans filled more than 57 million prescriptions for Lipitor, the most popular of the five available statin drugs.
Other possible side effects of statin drugs include nausea, diarrhea and constipation, and they have even caused severe memory and mental awareness problems in some patients. Most people concerned about their blood cholesterol levels can improve cholesterol naturally by making changes to their diet and exercise regime. In fact, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed adding foods like tofu, almonds, cereal fibers, plant sterols and soy products can lower total cholesterol more effectively than statin drugs. See Mike Adams' NewsTarget article "Healing foods beat statin drugs for lowering high cholesterol" for more information on that study.
Of course, doctors continue to prescribe moneymaking statin drugs to millions of people around the world, posing a great risk to human health. Health Canada is taking a step in the right direction by stiffening the health warnings on prescription statin drugs. As more information surfaces about the risks of statin drugs, hopefully more people will begin to say no to drugs like Lipitor and Crestor and take responsibility for their health in a safer, more natural way.
Source: http://www.newstarget.com/019593.html
NEW YORK, July 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Consumers may be tempted to try one of the dozens of natural supplements which claim to have cholesterol-lowering properties without the side effects or the price tag of prescription statins, a class of heart drugs used to lower LDL (the "bad") cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attack and death. However, Consumer Reports Medical Guide cautions that if your LDL cholesterol is high enough to need treatment, you're better off with the prescription statins. Free information about the effectiveness of three natural supplements for reducing cholesterol is posted at http://www.consumerreports.org/mg/free-highlights/manage-your-health/herbal_statins.htm
Experts from Consumer Reports Medical Guide evaluated some nutritional supplements being promoted as natural cholesterol reducers and widely sold in stores and on the Internet. They found:
According to Nancy Metcalf, senior editor at Consumer Reports, "There's simply not enough evidence to prove the safety and effectiveness of natural supplements to reduce elevated levels of LDL cholesterol. Statins are a proven -- and often the best -- therapy to lower cholesterol." Metcalf says switching to a Mediterranean diet could help patients who don't want to take any medications. She reminds patients that healthcare decisions like these should be made in close consultation with their doctor.
Consumer Reports Medical Guide experts also caution that since the natural supplement market is virtually unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration, there's no guarantee that what you buy will contain what the label says it does, since the FDA doesn't regulate the manufacturing quality for supplements as it does for drugs. Second, since some supplements have similar properties as prescription drugs, there may be potential side effects without proper medical supervision.
Subscribers can access information about these and dozens of other natural supplements with supposed cholesterol reducing properties by logging onto Consumer Reports Medical Guide's Natural Medicine Ratings -- the most complete listing of natural products, the product's safety information and possible interactions, available on any consumer health Web site. The continuously updated database contains information on close to 14,000 natural medicines including herbs, vitamins and nutritional supplements and other ingredients that are widely available to consumers without a prescription in stores and online -- http://www.consumerreportsmedicalguide.org
Consumer Reports Medical Guide, a subscription-based online service with rich, continuously updated content for non- subscribers as well, provides information and treatments ratings on over 100 common and chronic health conditions, over 1000 drug monographs and safety information. Consumer Reports Medical Guide offers consumers independent, trustworthy and thorough information on the best treatments and prescription drugs with no advertising influence and includes information from several organizations that are highly regarded by medical professionals, including the BMJ Publishing Group, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists and Therapeutic Research Center. Consumers Union has a long history of providing independent information on a variety of health and medical issues through Consumer Reports magazine and the Consumer Reports on Health newsletter.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Experts from Consumer Reports Medical Guide are available for interviews.
Cholesterol can be both good and bad (LDL and HDL). LDL cholesterol is considered the bad kind. Together with other substances it can clog arteries. For this reason it is important to control your LDL levels.
The better you understand cholesterol, the better you can take care of yourself. To help control cholesterol, get a cholesterol screening, eat healthy, maintain a healthy weight, exercise regularly, and talk to your doctor about your cholesterol levels. He can then decide if the prescription drug Mevacor®, also known as lovastatin, is right for you.