For consumers
(1300 633 424)
Mon-Fri | 9am-5pm AEST
Your call will be answered by healthdirect Australia
For health professionals
Find out the active ingredient and other brand names of your medicines with the NPS Medicine Name Finder
For a medicinewise Australia
Independent. Not-for-profit. Evidence based.
Site Tools
Cholesterol lowering drugs - Independent medicine & health information for consumers & professionals Cholesterol lowering drugs — medicine information
Latest independent drug information about cholesterol lowering drugs and treatments, written and reviewed by experts in Australia.
Cholesterol lowering drugs are also known as statins, anticholesteraemic agents or HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
| Filter by audience: | |
|---|---|
| All | |
| Consumer | |
| Health professional | |
| Researchers & evaluators | |
| Members & stakeholders | |
| Other | |
| Title | Description | Type | Audience  |
Date* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cholesterol medicine brand choices | Lipitor is no longer the only brand of cholesterol-lowering medicine available on prescription. Learn about brand choices & what to do if you are offered another brand of medicine by your pharmacist | Topic overview | Consumers | 2012-05-01 00:00:00 |
| Keep taking your statins: benefits outweigh risks | Recent media reports suggest statin medicines increase the risk of diabetes & memory loss in patients. However, research shows that the benefits of statins outweigh the risks & NPS is advising people to keep taking their statin medicines, unless their doctor says otherwise. Read more on the risks & benefits of statins here | Web page | Consumers | 2012-03-01 00:00:00 |
| Statins remain important for people at high risk of heart attack or stroke | NPS is urging people taking statins to continue to take their medicine as prescribed and to see their doctor if they are unsure about the benefit of the medicine for them. | Media release | Others | 2012-03-01 19:00:00 |
| Managing lipids -Reducing CVD risk | Outlines tools for identifying people at increased cardiovascular risk and strategies to help people stay on effective treatment. Many could benefit from a lipid-modifying drug but are not being treated. | Professional publication - NPS News | Health Professionals | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 |
| Information for assessing people on simvastatin 80 mg/day | NPS encourages prescribers to review patients currently taking simvastatin 80 mg/day to assess their risk of myopathy and rhabdomyolysis. | Topic overview | Health Professionals,Consumers,Members & Stakeholders,Others,Research & Evaluation community | 2011-12-14 00:00:00 |
| Latest edition of Australian Prescriber out now | The December edition of Australian Prescriber, out now | Media release | Others | 2011-12-01 19:00:00 |
| Are cholesterol medicines overused? | Medicines to treat cholesterol may be being prescribed inappropriately, according to Associate Professor Jane Smith of Bond University. Heart disease is a common problem, causing 16% of the total disease burden in Australia – second only to cancer. However treatment with statins should be focused on those at high risk | Media release | Others | 2011-12-01 19:00:00 |
| Clinical e-Audit: Lipids | Clinical e-audit to help GPs review their management of patients who are at risk of CVD and may benefit from lipid-modifying therapy | Professional activity - Clinical audit | Health Professionals | 2010-07-01 00:00:00 |
| Reducing CVD risk: lifestyle, statins and ezetimibe | This pharmacy practice review provides pharmacists with the opportunity to review the optimal use of lipid-modifying medicines in patients at risk of cardiovascular disease | Professional activity - Pharmacy Practice Review | Health Professionals | 2010-06-10 00:00:00 |
| Indicators of Quality Prescribing: 13 | Indicators of Quality Prescribing: Indicator 13 Myocardial Infarction. This indicator asks practices what percentage of patients with a history of myocardial infarction (MI) have not been prescribed a beta blocker, antiplatelet agent (or anticoagulant) and statin. | Professional tool - Indicators of quality prescribing | Health Professionals | 2006-02-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study PH5 report. For pharmacists. Dyslipidaemia and coronary heart disease risk | Female patient presents her first prescription for simvastatin. She doesn't really want to take it and asks you if she should bother. | Professional activity - Case study report | Health Professionals | 2002-02-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study 5 report: New drugs | Patient with mild hypertension and mildly elevated cholesterol presents with insomnia and anxiety. Consider the appropriateness of a range of drug therapies for this patient. | Professional activity - Case study report | Health Professionals | 1999-12-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study 28 report: Managing hypertension in diabetes | Patient with type 2 diabetes presents for review of his blood pressure (145/90 mmHg). His current medications are ramipril, simvastatin and metformin. | Professional activity - Case study report | Health Professionals | 2003-10-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study PH5. For pharmacists. Dyslipidaemia and coronary heart disease risk | Female patient presents her first prescription for simvastatin. She doesn't really want to take it and asks you if she should bother. | Professional activity - Case study | Health Professionals | 2002-02-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study 5: New drugs | Patient with mild hypertension and mildly elevated cholesterol presents with insomnia and anxiety. Consider the appropriateness of a range of drug therapies for this patient. | Professional activity - Case study | Health Professionals | 1999-12-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study 28: Managing hypertension in diabetes | Patient with type 2 diabetes presents for review of his blood pressure (145/90 mmHg). His current medications are ramipril, simvastatin and metformin. | Professional activity - Case study | Health Professionals | 2003-08-01 00:00:00 |
| Case study 67: CVD risk: guiding lipid management | Ric is a 49-year-old IT consultant who has come to see you concerned that he is at risk of a heart attack | Professional publication - NPS News | Health Professionals | 2011-02-01 00:00:00 |
| Ischaemic heart disease | Examines use of multiple medications for patients with ischaemic heart disease, focusing on aspirin use, symptom control with nitrates and GP support. | Professional publication - NPS News | Health Professionals | 2005-08-01 00:00:00 |
| New Alzheimer's drugs | Reviews evidence on efficacy of donepezil and rivastigmine in Alzheimer's disease, including side effects, and on managing behavioural disturbances in dementia using complementary medicine. Includes case study. | Professional publication - NPS News | Health Professionals | 2001-06-01 00:00:00 |
| NPS Prescribing Practice Review 31: Ischaemic heart disease | Information on the multiple medications that are often necessary in the treatment of ischaemic heart disease including aspirin, statins, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors. | Professional publication - Prescribing Practice Review | Health Professionals | 2005-09-01 00:00:00 |
| NPS Prescribing Practice Review 31: Ischaemic heart disease | Information on the multiple medications that are often necessary in the treatment of ischaemic heart disease including aspirin, statins, beta blockers and ACE inhibitors. | Professional publication - Prescribing Practice Review | Health Professionals | 2005-09-01 00:00:00 |
| NPS audit reveals positive prescribing practices in hospitals | Findings from a quality improvement project funded by the National Prescribing Service Ltd (NPS) focusing on optimising Discharge Management of Acute Coronary Syndromes (DMACS) in hospitals, show that guideline-recommended therapies are prescribed most frequently. | Media release | Others | 2008-04-18 19:00:00 |
| Pharmacy Practice Review – reducing cardiovascular disease risk | Pharmacy Practice Review - Reducing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk is part of the 2011 NPS therapeutic program on CVD risk and guiding lipid management for health professionals and builds on the NPS vision to encourage quality use of medicines | Media release | Others | 2011-06-07 19:00:00 |
Information on this website is published by NPS — an independent, evidence based, not-for-profit organisation funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
NPS develops its information under the guidance of experts in their field, editorial panels, expert reviewers and consumers. Find out more about how we develop our content.
Date published: 2010-12-17 00:00:00
Reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the date of creation. This information is not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified health professional. Health professionals should rely on their own expertise and enquiries when providing medical advice or treatment. Where permitted by law, NPS disclaims all liability (including for negligence) for any loss, damage or injury resulting from reliance on or use of this information. Read our full disclaimer.
References to brands should not be taken as an endorsement by NPS.
