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Should Healthy People Take Statins?

April 2, 2010 – Should healthy people take a cholesterol-lowering drug to prevent heart disease even if they don't have high cholesterol? The answer, for some people, is yes. It's a controversial answer that raises a lot of questions. Here are WebMD's answers to those questions. Statins are a class
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FDA Warns of Zocor Risk to Muscles

March 19, 2010 -- Based on new data, the FDA today warned that higher doses of the cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor, sold generically as simvastatin, carry an increased risk of muscle injury. The FDA also warns that mixing Zocor with certain other drugs also increases patients' risk of muscle injury,
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Statins May Be Linked to Diabetes Risk

Feb. 17, 2010 -- The popular class of cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may slightly raise the risk of type 2 diabetes, but experts say the benefits of these potentially lifesaving drugs far outweigh the risks. A new review of 13 studies on statins and their side effects with a total of more
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1 in 5 Teens Has Unhealthy Cholesterol Levels

Jan. 21, 2010 -- One in five American teens has unhealthy cholesterol levels, putting them on the fast track for heart disease, according to a new CDC report. Researchers found that 20% of young people aged 12-19 in the U.S. have at least one abnormal cholesterol or lipid level, including low-densit
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FDA: Vytorin Unlikely to Up Cancer Risk

Dec. 22, 2009 -- The FDA says a connection between the cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin and cancer risk is unlikely, but shouldn't be ruled out. Vytorin is a combination of two cholesterol-lowering drugs, Zocor, from Merck, and Zetia, from Merck and Schering-Plough. The FDA said in August 2008 that
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Cholesterol Levels Getting Better in U.S.

Nov. 17, 2009 -- Researchers say the prevalence of high levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol decreased dramatically among U.S. adults between 1999 and 2006. That's the good news from a study published in the Nov. 18 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. The bad news -- or part of it -
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Niacin Tops Zetia in Cutting Artery Plaque

Nov. 16, 2009 (Orlando, Fla.) -- A prescription version of niacin beat out a blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug in slowing the buildup of plaque in artery walls, researchers report. The study pitted extended-release niacin, sold as Niaspan, which works by boosting levels of HDL "good" cholesterol
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Statin Drugs May Cut Risk of Gallstones

Nov. 11, 2009 -- A popular class of cholesterol-lowering medications appears to reduce the risk for gallstones that ultimately require surgery. Researchers reporting in this week's issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association have found that adults who take a statin medication for at lea
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Statins May Perform Better as a Solo Act

Aug. 31, 2009 -- Statins may do their best work at lowering cholesterol levels alone, according to a new review of research on the popular drugs. More than 28 million Americans have some form of heart disease, and doctors often prescribe statin drugs to lower dangerous low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
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High Cholesterol Linked to Alzheimer's

Aug. 4, 2009 -- Adults with even moderately elevated cholesterol in their early to mid-40s appear to have an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias decades later, a new study shows. Researchers followed more than 9,800 people for four decades in one of the largest and longest a
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