Do You Need to Take Two Cholesterol-Lowering Pills Instead of One?

A recent study suggests that taking a statin drug and another class of medications to lower cholesterol can have great results, but is it necessary?

Photograph credit by author.

Most people with heart disease or high cholesterol are familiar with a class of drugs known as statins. They were first prescribed for lowering blood cholesterol levels almost forty years ago. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of patients take them. Thus, their safety and side effect profiles make them one of the most studied drugs in modern medical history.

In this post, I do not intend to debate the usefulness and safety of statins in heart disease prevention and treatment. Notwithstanding the deluge of misinformation about them on social media pages and podcasts, their benefits far outweigh any side effects or dangers. No drug has zero risks and no side effects. Yet, the risk-to-benefit ratio of statins consistently tilts towards net benefits for most people.

However, troubling side effects like muscle aches, when they do occur, are often at high drug dosages, which might limit the effective lowering of cholesterol levels. Thus, adding another class of medications is often helpful. One such medication is ezetimibe, which is well tolerated. The combination with statins often allows the target lowering of cholesterol levels with fewer…