Drug Treatments

Statin drugs - work by blocking an enzyme that helps to make cholesterol in the liver.

  • Zocor - Popular statin drug for treating high cholesterol. Generic should become available in June/July 2006.

Guggulsterone - appears to block the FXR receptor. The FXR receptor regulates the uptake of cholsterol laiden bile from the small intestine, part of bile's metabolic cycle: bile is produced by liver, sent to gall bladder, then to small intestine, the absorbed by blood (?) and delivered back to the liver. Derived from the sap (resin) of the guggal tree, which grow in dry regions of India, Afghanistan, etc.

General Articles

  • University Of Indiana Cholesterol Info - Excellent and clear introduction to cholesterol. Good place to start. No coverage on drug treatments, but good overview of what cholesterol is, what it's good for, why high blood levels can be bad, and what you can do to control cholesterol levels with exercise and food choices.
  • CholesterolLoweringFoods - Brief overview of the foods or food categories that positively affect serum cholesterol.
  • LowCholesterolDiet - Very nice summary of diet considerations that may influence serum cholesterol. More complete than CholesterolLoweringFoods. The http://www.lowercholesterol.net site is a good one.
  • Policosanol - New Natural Way to Control Cholesterol - This one is new to me. Sounds popular in Australia. Is it promising?

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