Doctors often prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs to keep us healthy, especially when we get older.
These medicines help prevent heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, and diseases that come with age.
They usually work well, but recent research shows there might be some unexpected results.
What Medicines Are We Talking About?
There are different types of cholesterol-lowering drugs.
The most common type is called statins. You might have heard names like Lipitor or Crestor – these are statins. These drugs work by slowing down how much cholesterol your body makes.
Another type, which is newer and not as well known, is called PCSK9 inhibitors. These drugs work differently – they get rid of cholesterol already inside your body’s cells.
So why is all this important? Well, it turns out that while these drugs can do a good job at managing cholesterol, they might also have some surprising side effects.
Possible Side Effects
Researchers have found that people taking PCSK9 inhibitors could have problems with their lungs. The long-term effects of these drugs are not fully known, so more studies are needed.
Statins also have some surprising side effects. Researchers found that some people taking statins might gain weight and body fat. They also might have lower testosterone, a hormone important for both men and women.
However, it’s not all bad news. Researchers also found that some people taking statins may experience an increase in the size of a part of their brain called the hippocampus.
This part of the brain is important for memory and emotions. So, an increase in its size could potentially reduce the risk of conditions like dementia (which affects memory) and depression (which affects mood).
How Do We Know All This?
This information comes from a study by Kitty Pham, a Ph.D. student at the University of South Australia. She led a team that used genetic information to study the effects of these drugs.
Genetic information is like a blueprint of your body. By looking at this blueprint, researchers can see how different drugs might affect people.
For example, they can see that people with certain genes might gain weight when they take statins.
Pham’s team used this method because it’s not always possible to test these things directly in people.
Clinical trials – where they test new drugs in people – can be very expensive and take a long time. They are also not always practical for looking at long-term effects.
What Does This Mean for You?
It’s important to remember that medicines are tools to help us stay healthy. But like any tool, they need to be used correctly. That’s why doctors keep an eye on your health and adjust your medications as needed.
These findings don’t mean that you should stop taking your cholesterol medication if you’re on one.
What’s important is to understand what these medicines do, and to talk with your doctor about the potential benefits and side effects.
So, if you’re on a statin and notice that you’ve gained weight, don’t panic. Talk to your doctor – it might be a side effect of the drug.
Similarly, if you’re on a PCSK9 inhibitor and have noticed changes in your breathing, let your doctor know. It could be a sign that the drug is affecting your lungs.
While more research is needed, studies like these can help us understand how different drugs work. They can help doctors make the best decisions for their patients, and they can help us make informed choices about our own health.
If you care about health, please read studies about the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease, and vitamin D supplements strongly reduce cancer death.
For more information about health, please see recent studies about plant nutrients that could help reduce high blood pressure, and these antioxidants could help reduce dementia risk.
The study was published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.
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