Statins are the most common medicines used to treat high cholesterol. There are other medicines that can also lower cholesterol. These may be used along with statins if statins do not lower your cholesterol enough. Non-statin drugs that can lower cholesterol include:

  • Ezetimibe
  • PCSK9-inhibitors
  • Bile acid sequestrants

High cholesterol increases your risk of heart and blood vessel disease and medicines can lower that risk. Your doctor will probably recommend that you lower your cholesterol if you have:

  • LDL-C (“bad” cholesterol) levels of 190 mg/dL or more
  • already had a heart attack or stroke
  • diabetes

Even people with lower LDL-C levels may need to take medicine. This is especially true if their risk of a heart attack or stroke is high. These include people with added risks like high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and age over 65 years. You can check your 10-year risk of heart attack of stroke online at ASCVD Risk Estimator Plus.

Statins are given first. Other drugs are tried after statins, only if needed. Talk to your doctor to see if any of these medicines are right for you.

Statins are best; talk to your doctor about the rest.