If you take certain cholesterol-lowering shots like evolocumab or alirocumab every few weeks, they can cut your 'bad' cholesterol by about 60%, even if you're already on cholesterol pills, have a...

For people with heart disease who are already taking cholesterol-lowering pills, adding a drug called evolocumab can slash their bad cholesterol by about 60% in less than a year—bringing it down to very low levels.

These cholesterol drugs can cut bad cholesterol by half and help prevent heart attacks in people with heart disease, and they’re about as safe as a dummy shot—though some might get a little redness where they’re injected.

Taking a cholesterol drug called evolocumab to get really low LDL levels doesn’t seem to cause serious side effects like memory problems, diabetes, cataracts, or brain bleeds over 3 years, according to a major study.

For people with diabetes who don’t have serious artery disease, adding a drug called evolocumab to their usual cholesterol medicine lowers bad cholesterol a lot — down to 52, compared to 111 without it — after a year.

A type of medicine (like evolocumab or alirocumab) blocks a protein in your body called PCSK9, which helps your liver remove bad cholesterol from your blood—cutting it by about half.