lipitor vs. niaspam

[alinec]

what do you think is a better drug: I have an hdl of 34 and very low bad cholesterol. i've been on niaspam and my dr. thinks I should change to lipitor because of the new drug studies on lipitor. I am a perfect weight, and i'm 63 with no incidents of heart attack but my arteries do show significant arterilosclerosis. I feel healthy and seem great so far!
any advice appreciated.

[Flycaster305]

Lipitor is very safe and extremely effective.  I'm an examp;le of a knot-head who was afraid of statins and decided to follow the 'natural' route.   My decision led to eight stents, heart attacks, a pacemaker and bypass surgery.  Agressive Cardiac Artery Disease needs to be addressed from a number of levels in my opinion, including exercise, weight loss, statins, dietary changes and stress relief.  Red Star is right, research shows that inflammation of arteries can cause the plaque to erupt, resulting in blood clots in the arteries.  However, first you have to control the cholesterol  that can attach to the arteries, and Lipitor, Vytorin, etc do a great job.  I tried Niaspam but had poor results.  Whatever route you choose, do insist on quarterly blood tests to chart your progress.  Stay in touch.

[erijon]

Actually, your comments about liver failure is not correct. Recent studies have found that statins like Lipitor acutally improve liver function in patients with liver disease and the incidence rate of liver failure is not turning out to be as high as originally thought. In fact, the FDA is considering dropping the liver failure side effect from the patient leaflet and consumer information.

Jon

[Occupant]

You're writing your HDL is 34 but also that your bad Cholesterol is very low. What does that mean, can you be more specific? How did they find out about your Arteriosclerosis, did you have an Angiogram or just a CT-Scan? If you had an Angiogram you would know the degree of blockage, if it was just the CT-Scan, you would have the Calcium Score.

[Red_Star]

Homocysteine and C-reactive protein levels are better predictors of a future heart attack than cholesterol.  Both are inflammation markers. Inflammation and oxidation cause heart disease.

Homocysteine - 6.3umol/L is healthy
C Reactive Protein - under 1mg/L is healthy

Cholesterol lowering drugs like Lipitor work by inhibiting the enzyme needed to manufacture cholesterol in the liver. However, these drugs also block the manufacture of important nutrients like CoQ10. CoQ10 is essential for a healthy heart and energy production. Statin drugs are often associated with side effects including nausea, headaches, dizziness, sleep disturbances, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, shortness of breath, memory loss, liver problems, muscle weakness, muscle pain, peripheral neuropathy and cardiomyopathy due to a depletion of Coenzyme Q10.

Thirteen liver failure cases and nine deaths were linked with Lipitor. In response, the FDA has recommended the addition of warnings to statin package inserts about the possibility of liver failure.

[erijon]

Lipitor can increase HDL by approx 15% which would help. I would think twice about Niaspan as the most recent data suggests that the HDL that is artificially created by Niacin is not as effective against LDL as naturally occurring HDL. If you're healthy, you can increase HDL with exercise, just speak to your doctor first.

Lipitor is a very safe and effective drug. In addition to the cholesterol lower properties, statins are also being proven to lower inflammation which is huge. Given that you have some plaques forming, I would want Lipitor if it were me, it is just that much more effective.

Take a look at this, you can click on each study and see how Lipitor performed;


http://www.pfizerpro.com/hcp/lipitor/cv-outcomes-data?source=msn&HBX_PK=s_type+2+diabetes&HBX_OU=52&o=58558119%7C234716497%7C0&skwid=43000000377332246#col11

Hope this helps,

Jon