True or False, Lipitor dosn't lower cholesterol, it forces your?

Question

cholesterol into the walls of your arteries.
Thus your cholesterol screening comes back lower but now you are at risk of hardening of the arteries?

Answer 1

False. Lipitor is a "Statin" drug. Thus, it is an HMG-CoA Reductase enzyme inhibitor. HMG-CoA Reductase is the rate-limiting enzyme in the bio-synthetic pathway in the liver that makes cholesterol. So, Lipitor reduces the synthesis of cholesterol in the liver.

In the scientific literature (not the T.V. commercials) there is a lot of controversy about why these drugs are beneficial for heart disease. These drugs have many other actions in the body (such as inhibiting inflammation) that may account for their clinical benefit more than their effects on cholesterol production. These can be very dangerous drugs because the pathway they disrupt also interferes with the body's ability to produce other vital molecules (e.g. Co-enzyme Q). Additionally, too many doctors think 'the lower the cholesterol level the better', which is BAD Biochemistry. Cholesterol has many vital functions and driving its level too low with drugs can lead to many other health problems.

Best wishes.

Answer 2

False - A big FALSE actually

All statin drugs seem to have a dual function.

They do lower the overall blood cholesterol by an action that takes place in the liver at an enzyme level - just as described above.

They do have an action on the blood vessel walls - but only on areas where there is dangerous build up of fatty deposits called plaque. Statin drugs stabilise these fat deposits and make them much less likely to break off and form a clot.

They dont cause normal arteries to get hard in the way your question suggests.

Hope this helps

Read more about cholesterol and statins on http://www.bloodpressurehigh.com/cholesterol-1.html

Answer 3

Yes Lipitor is a medication used to help lower cholesterol. It is used to bring high levels down to within normal range. As far as long term, yes you may need to be on it a year or so, but once your levels come down then generally the doctor will switch you to something else for a little bit. Once levels are stable for six months yhen you can controll your cholesterol levels simply through diet (proper eating habits) and exercise.

Answer 4

Hardening of the arteries and plaque build up from cholesterol are two different things. There is no direct connection except they both happen in the arteries.

Answer 5

Lipitor is a cholesterol lowering medication but it causes severe joint pain in some people. It did in me. It was the best medicine I found for lowering my cholesterol but the joint pain was so bad I couldn't even walk on my feet for the pain it caused so the doctor took me off of it and we don't have to worry about my cholesterol now because I have a very serious digestive disease and can't eat.

Answer 6

False. It actually inhibits an enzyme that the liver uses to produce cholesterol (specifically LDL, the bad cholesterol).

Answer 7

false