![]() Remember that the risk of a heart attack can be lowered through stopping smoking, eating healthily, losing weight and taking regular exercise. It is licensed to be sold to people considered to be at moderate risk of a heart attack. Zocor heart-pro, however, contains a lower dose of statin than that normally prescribed, and can be bought without a prescription from pharmacies. Statins are normally prescribed by doctors to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people who are at high risk due to various risk factors, or who already have coronary heart disease (angina or a past heart attack). This can cause chest pain ( angina) and in severe cases can result in a heart attack (myocardial infarction). Any blockage in the blood vessels limits the amount of blood and therefore oxygen being carried to the heart muscle. They reduce the risk of excess cholesterol being deposited in the major blood vessels of the heart. Statins have an important role in the prevention of coronary heart disease. This results in lowered levels of 'bad fats' and raised levels of 'good fats' in the blood. Simvastatin also causes a small decrease in the production of other 'bad fats' in the blood called triglycerides, and a small increase in the level of HDL cholesterol. The body produces most cholesterol at night, so simvastatin is more effective when taken in the evening. The decreased cholesterol production and increased removal of LDL cholesterol from the blood ultimately results in lowered blood cholesterol levels. This decreases the amount of cholesterol in the liver cells, which causes them to take up LDL cholesterol from the blood. Simvastatin decreases the production of LDL cholesterol by blocking the action of the enzyme in the liver (called HMG-CoA reductase) that is responsible for its production. LDL is deposited in the arteries and increases the risk of heart disease by clogging and narrowing the arteries ( atherosclerosis), while HDL actually protects the arteries against this. Simvastatin works by reducing the production of cholesterol by the liver.įor the sake of simplicity, there are two sorts of cholesterol a 'bad' sort called low density lipoprotein (LDL) and a 'good' sort called high density lipoprotein (HDL). Your pharmacist can help you assess whether this medicine might be of benefit to you. South Asian ethnic origin (ie, from the Indian subcontinent that includes India, Bangladesh, Pakistan or Sri Lanka).overweight (body mass index higher than 25kg/m² or waist measurement larger than 40 inches in men or 35 inches in women).currently a smoker or have been in the last five years.family history of coronary heart disease in a parent, brother or sister.Men aged 55 years and over fall into this category, as do men aged 45 to 55 years and women aged 55 years and over who have one or more of the following risk factors: Moderate risk is defined as people who have a 10 to 15 per cent chance of having a heart attack in the next 10 years. Most people would consult their general practitioner first, which implies that patients lack faith in their own ability to manage their cholesterol concentration.Reducing the risk of a heart attack in people at moderate risk of coronary heart disease. Simvastatin is as likely to be used by people at low risk of coronary heart disease as by people at higher risk, which shows limited potential impact of over the counter statins on population health. Sources of previous knowledge of simvastatin among the 34 participants who had heard of it were television or radio (17), general practitioner (10), magazine or newspaper (4), and friends (3). Forty three (94%) of those who were willing to buy would do so only after consulting their general practitioner. Overall 47 (45%) respondents were willing to purchase simvastatin (24 men, 23 women), but we found no differences in willingness to buy by any of the variables investigated (table). Altogether 102 people responded to the questionnaire (51 men, mean (SD) age 56.8 (10.6) years). An anonymised, self completion questionnaire was administered, with informed consent, to people who were not taking statins.įour weeks after deregulation only one purchase had been made in the three pharmacies. JQ, also a locum pharmacist, selected subjects who seemed likely to be among the target population as they entered one of three pharmacies in Bristol over 10 days in August 2004. We compared the characteristics of people who when questioned expressed a willingness to buy simvastatin with those who did not.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |