Odds are good that you're either taking a drug to lower your cholesterol or you know someone else who is taking one.

Roughly 19 million Americans are using cholesterol-lowering drugs, and an even greater number might benefit from taking one. Forbes magazine recently reported that $34 billion dollars' worth of so-called statin drugs were sold in 2007. These include drugs that have become household names, like Lipitor (atorvastatin) and Zocor (simvastatin).

According to the American Heart Association, these work in your liver, where they inhibit the production of cholesterol. They are effective in lowering your LDL ("bad") cholesterol, which is the stuff that can accumulate in the arteries supplying your heart and brain and set the stage for a heart attack or stroke. Studies have found that they can help protect you from coronary heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.

A new study that got a lot of media coverage in late 2008 - which was funded by the maker of a statin drug, by the way - found that the drug was associated with a lower risk of heart attack and stroke even in older people who didn't have high cholesterol but had a higher marker of inflammation.

However, even if your cholesterol is higher than it should be, you may not necessarily need to take a statin. Depending on your LDL level and whether or not you have other risk factors for heart disease (like smoking or high blood pressure), your doctor may first suggest that you lose weight, exercise more, and make some changes to your diet. If your LDL cholesterol stays too high, your doctor may recommend a statin or other cholesterol-lowering drug.

Statins can cause side effects. Many people notice muscle pain - including soreness and weakness - after they start to take a statin. In some cases, statins cause a rise in liver enzymes, which may require stopping the drug and switching to another.

As a service to the increasing number of people taking statin drugs, Life Line Screening offers testing of liver enzymes called ALT and AST. The use of cholesterol drugs - and many other drugs used for treating diabetes, high blood pressure, and other conditions - requires regular liver enzyme monitoring. By sharing the results of this test with your doctor, you may help prevent complications related to these drugs.

Learn more about cholesterol

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