The heart rate and blood pressure in people with high cholesterol levels can decrease by about 30% in the first few days after their medications are stopped, according to a new study.
And a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the number of days people can be monitored for LDL cholesterol in a blood test will depend on how quickly they start reducing their cholesterol intake.
The study looked at more than 8,000 people with normal cholesterol levels who were monitored by their healthcare provider for two years after they started taking statins.
They were asked to take blood tests to monitor their cholesterol levels and also to monitor changes in blood pressure and heart rate during a 30-day period, when they would have been taking statin medication.
The results showed that people with higher cholesterol levels tended to have a shorter period of time in which they could be monitored, the researchers reported in the study.
While statins are known to reduce blood cholesterol levels by lowering the level of LDL cholesterol, it is not known how long people with cholesterol levels above 140 mg/dL will experience the effects of lowering their cholesterol, the study authors said.
The findings were not entirely surprising, the authors wrote.
“It is well established that lowering LDL cholesterol by taking statuarly lowers cholesterol levels, so lowering cholesterol by lowering LDL is the most effective way to reduce cardiovascular disease risk,” said Dr. Jeffrey R. Weinstock, lead author of the study and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.
“The only question is whether this effect is lasting.”
In the study, the average LDL cholesterol level was about 120 mg/dl.
But people who were taking statas, known as low-dose statins, had a much lower LDL level, about 37 mg/d.
The study authors suggest that lowering the LDL cholesterol levels of those taking statics is a strategy to help lower cholesterol levels in people at higher risk for heart disease.
The average cholesterol level among the study participants was about 100 mg/ld.
The new study is important because statins do not necessarily work the same way as statin drugs do, said Dr, William A. Schaffner, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco.
“I think the results will be of interest to other people,” he said.
In this case, people taking stats could have a better chance of reducing cholesterol if they take the statin medications that are less likely to cause side effects, such as the anti-inflammatory drug metformin.
However, people on statins also have a greater chance of having other health issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other conditions, said the study’s senior author, Dr. Timothy S. Buitelaar, a research scientist at the Harvard School of Public Health.
If you or someone you know is taking stati-therapy drugs and has low LDL, it’s important to talk with your healthcare provider to make sure they’re the right drug for you, he said in a statement.
