Private MD News

New options being introduced to lower cholesterol

Category: Heart Health and Cholesterol

For years, individuals who had received unhealthy cholesterol tests only had one or two pharmaceutical options for bringing their numbers down to a normal range. However, this is no longer the case. Developments in the cholesterol drug world are helping to open up many new choices.

Back in November, the patent on Lipitor expired, which opened the drug up to generic manufacturers. For years, Lipitor had been far and away the top selling cholesterol drug. However, individuals now have many more options.

New research is also finding drug formulations that could potentially render statins less important. For example, a team of researchers recently reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that they had successfully created a medication that enhances the ability of the liver to filter bad cholesterol out of the bloodstream. In the first clinical trial of the medication conducted in humans it was proven safe and effective.

All of this has rejuvenated talk of cholesterol medications, which for so long had been completely dominated by statins. The trend may eventually produce a range of new options to help people who have received unhealthy cholesterol test results bring their levels back down.