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EZETIMIBE: A NEW CLASS OF CHOLESTEROL-LOWERING DRUGS
In 2003, the Canadian government approved Ezetrol, a drug to block the absorption of cholesterol from the food that you eat.
More than 80 percent of the cholesterol in your bloodstream is made by your liver. Less than 20 percent comes from the food that you eat. The treatment for abnormal cholesterol values is to restrict excess calories, saturated and partially hydrogenated fats, and sugar and other refined carbohydrates, to eat lots of vegetables and other plant foods, to avoid overweight and high blood pressure, and to exercise.
When these methods are not effective, doctors prescribe drugs that have been available for 15 years, to reduce the amount of cholesterol made by your liver. Now doctors may also prescribe the new drugs that block cholesterol absorption from food, in combination with diet and drugs to block the liver from making cholesterol.
Reported 9/1/03, checked 8/31/05