Cholesterol has been getting a lot of negative press despite the fact that cholesterol is needed in our body. It is produced in our liver and needed for the building of cell membrane. Eating food that contain high level of saturated fats like fatty meat, cheese and milk will likely to increase the level of cholesterol in the body as well.

On the average, a cholesterol level of above 200mg/DL will be consider high. At this level, the person maybe at risk of heart attack, heart disease and stroke. At 200 level or higher, doctor will advise you to lower the cholesterol back to a healthy level. Diet and exercise regime changes is usually the first step in the process to lower cholesterol.

However, if this does not prove successful, your doctor may prescribe you a cholesterol-lowering drug to assist you with getting your levels within a normal range. Here is a look at how some of these cholesterol drugs work.

Statin is the most commonly used drug to lower cholesterol. How it works is by increasing the level of LDL receptors in the liver, this in turn, will collect LDL in the liver instead of allowing LDL to flow in our vascular system and plaque the arteries and vein. Thus the reduction of LDL cholesterol will also proportionally reduced the risk of heart disease, heart attack and stroke.

One common prescribed cholesterol lowering drug is atrovastatin, also commonly known as Lipitor. As it can be created synthetically, it can be cheap and easy to produce in large quantity, making it relatively affordable and thus a preferred choice for doctors.

The one downside to statins is that although they are good at reducing LDL, or bad, cholesterol, they do not always work as well with reducing your triglyceride levels or with improving your HDL cholesterol levels. So taking statins alone may not be effective enough to solve your high cholesterol problem.

An alternative that you can try for raising your HDL cholesterol levels is niacin (also known as vitamin B3). Niacin has been shown to reduce LDL cholesterol levels and help with the prevention of heart disease at the same time.

Plant sterols can be another alternative choice. It is a chemical found in may plants, fruits and vegetables, an equivalent to animal cholesterol. Sterols has been found with properties that can block the absorption of cholesterol in our stomach.

However, the best way to lower cholesterol is through diet and exercise, beyond pills or supplements. Reduce the fatty meat, avoid the use of saturated fats and animal products, have a diet that is full of fruits, vegetables and grains, these can be as effective as the pills if not more effective.

Adding exercise to your routine and lowering your weight will also help your heart to get stronger. Reducing or eliminating smoking and alcohol consumption will also help improve cholesterol levels and reduce heart risks.

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