Reducing Blood Cholesterol

Reducing blood cholesterol

There are two different ways in the cholesterol in the blood can be reduced to lower the risk of coronary heart disease. It is really important to not have too much cholesterol in the body as it causes fat to build up, blocking arteries and veins and also increasing the possibility of getting a heart disease. There are two different types of cholesterol- HDL (high- density lipoproteins), which are actually good as they reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood; and LDL (low- density lipoproteins), which are mainly fat and also the kind of cholesterol that causes heart diseases (WebMD, 2008).
One of the ways to reduce the level of LDL is taking statins. Statins are drugs which provide the body with the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase. This main function of this enzyme is to prevent the liver from producing too much cholesterol by replacing the present HMG-CoA (M.A., 2013) .

Most statins that are used have implications. They reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases which is a good social implication as less people are likely to die and can live a healthier life. Also, they have an economical advantage because the higher the number of patients who need to take statins, the higher the income for the whole country as those people need to pay for the medication and the doctor’s treatment.
For many people, taking statins is the only solution to their problem of having a thigh level of blood cholesterol which is too high. The only benefit of taking statins is helping the patient reducing the risk of any heart diseases and strokes.
However, the drugs have many disadvantages. To many people, statins cause pain in the muscles like soreness. If high doses are taken, statins can even be life threatening as they can cause Rhabdomyolysis (liver damage, kidney failure). The medications also cause digestive problems e.g. diarrhoea. Statins even can increase the risk of getting type 2 diabetes as they can increase the blood sugar (Mayo Clinic...