Health Claims

Giving a high dose of a cholesterol drug called atorvastatin before a heart procedure can cut the risk of serious heart problems in the next month from about 1 in 6 to 1 in 20, mostly by lowering the chance of a small heart attack during the procedure.

Taking a high dose of a cholesterol drug called atorvastatin a day before a heart procedure can lower the chance of heart damage during the procedure, especially if you already have signs of inflammation in your body.

If people with high cholesterol stick more closely to a heart-healthy eating plan for six months, they tend to see bigger drops in their bad cholesterol.

For people with high cholesterol, going to extra diet counseling appointments doesn’t seem to lower bad cholesterol much more than just a couple of visits—if they’re both following the same healthy eating plan.

Eating a special mix of healthy foods like nuts, soy, fiber, and plant sterols can lower bad cholesterol by about 13% in 6 months — and works better than just cutting back on saturated fat.

Older adults with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s who took statins for 18 months didn’t have more liver problems or falls than those who didn’t — the study found no real difference.

For older adults with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, taking statins for 18 months didn’t seem to cause more health problems, hospital stays, or serious issues — and while they did visit their doctor more at first, that link went away when researchers accounted for other factors.

Taking statins doesn't seem to change how well people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's can handle everyday tasks like dressing or cooking over 18 months.

For older people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, taking statins for 18 months doesn't clearly slow down how fast their symptoms get worse — there's a hint it might help a little, but it's not strong enough to be sure.

Taking statins doesn't seem to slow down memory loss in older people with mild to moderate Alzheimer's, according to a study that followed them for 18 months.

A special kind of personal trial, where neither the patient nor the doctor knows when the real drug or a fake one is being taken, can help figure out if muscle pain is really caused by statins — and most people in these trials stick with it long enough to get useful answers.

Some people who say statins cause muscle pain might still feel worse on a low dose of atorvastatin, even if most don’t — it could mean a few are extra sensitive.

If you think statins give you muscle pain, taking 20 mg of atorvastatin every day probably won’t make those aches any worse than a sugar pill — it might just be your mind playing tricks.

Eating the Portfolio diet — which includes things like nuts, fiber, and plant sterols — can lower your risk of heart disease over the next 10 years, especially if you have high cholesterol.

Eating the Portfolio diet — which includes things like nuts, soy, and fiber — can lower a marker of body-wide inflammation in people with high cholesterol, based on studies lasting up to half a year.

Following the Portfolio diet — which includes foods like nuts, soy, and fiber — can lower blood pressure in people with high cholesterol, even within a few weeks.

Eating in a way called the Portfolio diet can lower bad cholesterol and a harmful blood protein in people with high cholesterol, which may help protect their heart.

Eating a special plant-based diet with nuts, fiber, and plant sterols can lower bad cholesterol by about 17% in people with high cholesterol — and it works better than just eating low-fat foods.

Some Japanese people might respond differently to cholesterol-lowering statin drugs because of a specific gene variation they have — this gene might affect how well the drug works for them.

Taking cholesterol-lowering drugs like statins really does lower cholesterol in Japanese people with high cholesterol, just like it does in others.

Some Japanese people with high cholesterol don't respond as well to certain cholesterol drugs if they have a specific gene variant — their cholesterol doesn't drop as much as in people without that gene.

Rosuvastatin might affect brain immune cells, and a specific cell signal pathway called JAK-STAT could be playing a role — scientists saw hints of this in lab tests with human brain cells.

Rosuvastatin might harm brain cells, and microglia — the brain's immune cells — could be playing a big role in that, based on lab tests.

A cholesterol drug called rosuvastatin changes how certain brain immune cells work in lab dishes, and this might help explain why some people on statins have memory problems.