Q: Is it true that the lower my cholesterol, the better?

Ask Our Expert About Lowering Your Cholesterol

About Our Expert

Bruce A. Feldman, D.O. is a cardiologist at Lehigh Valley Health Network's Lehigh Valley Heart Specialists.

 A: It has long been known that lowering cholesterol helps to reduce the risk of heart attack and death in people with heart disease. Now, a major new study recently released in the New England Journal of Medicine seems to substantiate this claim. Based on the study’s findings, it appears that aggressive statin treatment to reduce cholesterol levels to well below the current guidelines of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association can save the lives of those patients at greatest risk for experiencing a heart attack.

The study, known as The PROVE-IT Trial, dealt with those who had already experienced at least one coronary event and suffered from high cholesterol. The results suggest that not only is it beneficial to lower LDL levels through the aggressive use of statins, such as Lipitor or Pravochol, but that all statins may not be created equal. In other words, Lipitor was shown to reduce the LDL levels more so than Pravochol, although both were responsible for lowering LDL levels to below the current guideline of 100.

It appears that by drastically lowering the LDL levels in those who are at greatest risk for a coronary event, these individuals experienced a fewer number of artery blockages. This significantly reduced the need for bypass surgery or angioplasty in those who participated in the study. The benefits of the aggressive statin therapy became apparent within one month of the patients beginning treatment and continued throughout the course of therapy.

There were no serious adverse effects reported during the study, with muscle aches being reported in approximately 3% of the participants. Some also experienced an increase in liver enzymes which required the discontinuation of the statin therapy.

If you or a loved one suffer from heart disease, be sure to talk with your doctor about the benefits of lowering your cholesterol by modifying your diet and/or the use of statins. Remember that it is up to you to understand your condition and to work with your physician to determine the best treatment option for you. If you begin statin therapy, be sure to understand how the medication works and to follow your doctors’ instructions carefully.

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