A prescription to buy Lipitor may have more benefits than previously thought A
prescription to buy Lipitor or any other statin medication may not only lower total cholesterol levels; new research suggests that it may also help dissolve the plaque buildups that develop in arteries and are a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.
A prescription to buy Lipitor or any other statin medication may not only lower total cholesterol levels; new research suggests that it may also help dissolve the plaque buildups that develop in arteries and are a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.
Researchers from New York University found that statin medications work against plaque buildups at the molecular level. Under normal circumstances, the body's immune cells will attack accumulations of fat in the arteries, sweeping up fat cells and destroying them. However, when there is too much fat, the immune cells become clogged and then become a part of the plaque buildup.
This worsens the problem of high cholesterol by increasing the chances that it will accumulate. However, the researchers found that statins activate a protein on the outside of the immune cells that instructs them to leave the area of the buildup. The team said their results may indicate that statins could have benefits for many more people.
"It's possible that these drugs could possibly be more beneficial to a wider population of patients potentially reducing the overall lifetime burden of plaque and the prevention of atherosclerosis," said lead researcher Michael Garabedian.
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