Preventing Heart Disease with the Proper Medications

While your primary care physician evaluates your medication list with each visit, it’s always valuable for you to be an advocate of your own health. Cholesterol lowering medications are a commonly missed drug for patients to be on. The pharmacists at Kohll’s Rx, the medication experts, are another resource for evaluating your medication list and health history to determine if a cholesterol lowering medication would be appropriate for you. The following are reasons why you might need to add this medication into your regimen and may be worth asking your doctor about at your next visit:

If you have ever had a stroke, heart attack, or if you have diabetes, ask your doctor to evaluate your “LDL” levels. There are certain cut-offs where it would be appropriate for you to be on a cholesterol lowering medication. LDL stands for low density lipoproteins and if you have too much LDL, this builds up plaque in your arteries and can cause you to have a stroke or a heart attack. There are different appropriate thresholds of LDL based on your specific condition.

The first step when you need to be started on a cholesterol lowering medication is to begin with the “statin” class. These are inexpensive generic medications that are taken once every day. Not everyone can tolerate statins, a common side effect is muscle aches. If this occurs, the next medication your doctor will try you on is Zetia, if this still does not accomplish lowering your cholesterol to your specific goal, then the last line therapy is a PCSK9 inhibitor. These medications have often been life changing for patients. They are injections called Repatha and Praluent. When other cholesterol lowering medications won’t work, these ones accomplish the job. Often insurance companies will make it a little difficult for these last line medications to be covered. Kohll’s Rx has a specialty pharmacy team with employees trained in knowing exactly what information is needed in order to get this covered. The Kohll’s Specialty team is also well educated in finding coupons or other assistance methods in order to get these medications covered.

It’s always a good idea to ask questions with each of your doctor’s appointments. At your next appointment, check with your doctor to see if cholesterol lowering medications would be appropriate for increasing your life longevity. You can also ask the opinion of your local Kohll’s Rx pharmacist.