Heart disease and diabetes: Which statins have been well-investigated?
All of the five different statins that are licensed for use in Germany can lower the cholesterol level in the blood. But the deciding factor for patients is how well the medicine can prevent heart attacks and other coronary artery problems. From this point of view, simvastatin (marketed under various brand names) is the best tested. It has been shown to lengthen life expectancy of people with diabetes and particular heart diseases.
The statins are medicines that might be able to lower the risk of another heart attack among people who have already had one. These five types of statins are licensed for use in Germany: atorvastatin, fluvastatin, lovastatin, pravastatin and simvastatin. Statins are known as cholesterol-lowering or fat-lowering medicines. This is because they can reduce the levels of cholesterol in the blood.
Many doctors are convinced that this cholesterol-lowering effect is also responsible for lowering the risk of a heart attack. However, it is not known exactly how this might work. Statins have an impact on the blood vessels, and there could also be other, yet unknown effects. Which of these might be responsible for the effectiveness of statins is still unclear.
