Many different medications can be used to treat the underlying causes of congestive heart failure, including cholesterol-lowering medications:
- Statins -- These drugs, like atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor), and rosuvastatin (Crestor), can be effective in lowering total cholesterol, raising high density lipoprotein (HDL) or "good" cholesterol, and lowering low density lipoprotein (LDL) or "bad" cholesterol. Limit your consumption of grapefruit juice, which may increase the amount of statins in your blood and lead to muscle pain, a side effect of statins.
- Cholesterol absorption inhibitors -- Unlike statins, which work mostly in the liver, drugs like ezetimibe (Zetia) work in the digestive tract.
- Bile acid binding resins (bile acid sequestrants) -- These drugs, like cholestyramine (Questran), colestipol (Colestid), and colesevelam (Welchol), are used to lower LDL, either alone or in combination with a statin.
- Fibrates -- Drugs like gemfibrozil (Lopid) and fenofibrate (Tricor, Trilipix) may help raise HDL and lower triglycerides.
- Niacin (nicotinic acid) -- B vitamin that can help raise your HDL cholesterol and lower high triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood. Ask your doctor about taking a time-release form and/or taking an aspirin to minimize "niacin flushing" (hot flashes), a side effect of widening blood vessels.
Many different medications can be used to treat the underlying
causes of congestive heart failure, including cholesterol-lowering
medications: Statins -- These drugs, like atorvastatin (Lipitor),
simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Mevacor),...
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Stacy Wiegman answered:Many different medications can be used to treat the underlying causes of congestive heart failure, including cholesterol-lowering medications:
