What cholesterol medicine does not affect the liver?
Large randomized trials have proven the safety of low to moderate doses of lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin, showing no significantly increased risk of liver biochemistry abnormalities.
Which statin is not metabolized by the liver?
Whereas atorvastatin, lovastatin, simva-statin, and fluvastatin are lipophilic and metabolized by the cytochrome P-450 system; pravastatin and pitavastatin are hydrophilic and undergo minimal hepatic metabolization, while rosuvastatin has an intermediate behavior [10].
What is the safest anti cholesterol drug?
Fortunately, most side effects are mild and disappear promptly when the statin is stopped. In some cases, the problems will resolve simply by reducing the dose or switching to another statin, but care is required. Still, all in all, the statins are the safest and best tolerated of all cholesterol-lowering medications.
Which statins are easiest on the liver?
Low dose statins like atorvastatin (Lipitor) are safe in patients with mild liver disease (for example, patients with fatty liver and mildly abnormal liver tests in the blood such as ALT and AST).
Do all statins cause liver problems?
While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people who take them and may rarely cause liver damage.
Is Crestor hard on the liver?
The degree of ALT level elevation can show the seriousness of liver injury. Studies also show as many as three in every 100 patients taking Crestor experience side effects from elevated liver enzymes. Liver injury is rare but if it happens, it usually occurs two to four months into Crestor therapy.
Is there a non statin cholesterol medication?
There are many non-statin medications your doctor might prescribe: Bile acid-binding resins, like cholestyramine (Locholest, Prevalite, Questran), colesevelam (WelChol), and colestipol (Colestid) stick to cholesterol-rich bile acids in your intestines and lower your LDL levels.