Facts about statins
Debunking myths about the heart protection pill.
Eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise go a long way for improving and maintaining heart health. Sometimes, though, a cardiologist or primary care physician may recommend cholesterol-lowering medications called statins for an extra preventive boost.
"Statins have been used for nearly 40 years and are among the most studied medications in medicine, with strong evidence showing they lower the risk of heart attack, stroke and death,” said Pamela Rama, MD, FACC, a preventive cardiologist with Baptist Heart Specialists. “For patients at risk, statins do more than just lower cholesterol. They stabilize plaque and reduce the chance of a life-changing cardiac event.”
Dr. Rama cautioned that in this digital age, there’s a lot of misinformation on social media about statins that may make people hesitant to take them. She sets the record straight in the infographic below.
Be sure to talk to your doctor about your medication before making any changes. Stopping medication without your doctor’s knowledge can lead to serious health events, like heart attack or stroke.
If you’d like to talk to a cardiologist about statins or other heart treatments and services, visit BaptistJax.com/Heart or call 904.720.0799.
