If you have high cholesterol and can't take statins, taking a drug called ezetimibe by itself might lower your 'bad' cholesterol by about 18.6%—and it’s just as safe and easy to handle as a sugar pill.

For people at very high risk of heart problems, taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins plus another drug called ezetimibe lowers bad cholesterol more than taking statins alone — by about 13 points on average — and helps them hit their cholesterol targets better.

Ezetimibe helps lower bad cholesterol by stopping your gut from absorbing it, and even though it works well and doesn't cost much, doctors don't use it as much as they could.

For people with heart disease, taking a combo of two cholesterol drugs (ezetimibe plus a mid-strength statin) works about as well as a strong statin alone at lowering bad cholesterol, helps more people stay on the treatment, and might be easier on the body.

Taking both a statin and ezetimibe together may help prevent strokes better than taking just a statin, especially in people at very high risk.

For people at very high risk of heart problems, taking a cholesterol drug (statin) with another drug (ezetimibe) is just as safe and easy to stick with as taking the statin alone.