How Statins Help

Understanding Cholesterol

We often have the misunderstanding that cholesterol is completely bad for our body, but that's not true. Cholesterol is an essential component of the human body, and is needed for its proper functioning.

However, if your total body cholesterol exceeds the recommended limits, it can lead to health problems. Your lifestyle and eating habits can have a direct impact on your cholesterol levels. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise is your first line of defence when you have elevated cholesterol.

Sometimes, diet and exercise are not enough. In this case, you should talk to your healthcare provider, who will more than likely recommend you begin taking medication, starting with a statin.

Statins

Statins are recommended as the 'first line' medication to reduce your LDL-C or bad cholesterol levels.

Statins work by inhibiting an enzyme in your liver that contributes to the production of cholesterol. By blocking this enzyme, statins help to control your body's cholesterol levels.

Statins represent one of the most widely prescribed classes of drugs worldwide. In the U.S. market alone, statins represent more than 100 million annual prescriptions.¹

The FDA has currently approved the use of seven different statins - atorvastatin, lovastatin, fluvastatin, pitavastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, and rosuvastatin - in the U.S. market.

Concerns about Statins

If your doctor has recommended that you start taking a statin, you may have some concerns. Below are 3 common issues people have when taking statin medication.

Statins only work as long as one is taking them

Like many medications, statins only work if you take them regularly as prescribed by your doctor. If you stop taking your statin, your cholesterol levels will likely rise back to the levels they were before. Therefore, it's important to discuss with your healthcare team how you should take your statin medication. If you feel like you no longer need to take a statin, please consult your doctor before making that decision.

Did you know...40-75% of patients will stop taking their statin within the first year?^2,3,4

Statins can result in side effects, like muscle pain

Statins, like all medications, can cause certain side effects. Muscle pain, or myalgia, is the most common side effect reported with statin therapy and increases in frequency with the dose of statin one takes.

Side effects are the number one reason why patients stop taking their statin medications.⁵ If you experience side effects from your statin medication, please speak with your doctor.

It's important to remember that there are other statin options available. While you may experience a side effect with one statin, that may not be the case if you try another statin dose or another statin type.

Some statins cannot be taken with grapefruit juice

Grapefruit and grapefruit juice are rich in vitamin C and K and are incredibly delicious and healthy options to include in your everyday diet.

Unfortunately, grapefruit juice is one beverage that can interact with various types of medications, including certain statins.

If we consume grapefruit juice with certain statins, this can impact the way our body metabolizes the statin. This may result in too much drug in your body, which can lead to an increase in the potential risk of side effects.² This is the case for some commonly prescribed statins, including atorvastatin, simvastatin, and lovastatin.

How Zypitamag is Different

Zypitamag is an FDA approved third-generation statin and is different from the other statins available on the market. It contains the active drug known as pitavastatin. Zypitamag reduces bad cholesterol by up to 44% and increases good cholesterol by up to 7%.⁶

Key Points to remember:

• Zypitamag should be taken once daily, with or without food, at the same time each day⁶
• At the highest dose of Zypitamag (4 mg), only 3.1% of patients experienced muscle pain⁶
• Zypitamag, unlike some other statins, does not interact with certain foods like grapefruit juice. Therefore, if taking Zypitamag, you can continue enjoying your delicious grapefruit juice⁶

Want to learn more?

Considering Zypitamag
Am I covered?
Comparison with other statins
Importance of taking a statin

¹ Data on file.

² Simon LA et al. Med J Aust. 1996;164(4):208-211

³ Avorn J et al. JAMA. 1998;279(18):1458-1462

⁴ Blackburn DF et al. Can J Cardiol. 2005;21(6):485-488

⁵ Cohen JD et al. J Clin Lipidol. 2012;6(3):208-215

⁶ Zypitamag® [prescribing information]. Ahmedabad, India: Cadila Healthcare Ltd; September 2020