Statins - (Pravachol®, Zocor®, many others)

Statins are commonly used for two related purposes: to lower cholesterol, and to help prevent heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems.

Statins are best known for their ability to lower cholesterol, which is linked to a reduced risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular conditions. And statins may also have other properties, such as the ability to reduce inflammation and other forms of internal damage. They may reduce the risk of cardiac problems through these other mechanisms, particularly for people with certain genetic profiles.

The results presented here refer to both cholesterol lowering and risk of cardiac conditions after statin usage. For some people, this relationship may appear contradictory at first – their genetic markers may not indicate that statins will help lower their cholesterol as much as expected, but may still indicate lower overall cardiovascular risk after a heart attack. This contradiction can be explained by the many capabilities of statins.

Your Results

Typical effectiveness

Based on your genetic markers, this medication is likely to have typical effectiveness for you in terms of lowering cholesterol levels and preventing cardiovascular problems.

Drug and effectiveness facts

Generic name: simvastatin (SIM-va-stah-tin), pravastatin (PRAH-va-stah-tin)

Brand names: Lipex®, Pravachol®, Vytorin®, Zocor®

Primary uses: Simvastatin and pravastatin are often used to lower cholesterol and to try to prevent heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems.

Effectiveness: Based on their genetic makeup, some people are likely to respond to statins as expected, seeing their cholesterol levels drop. Others are less likely to have cholesterol decreases, but show greater likelihood of survival after a heart attack when taking these drugs regularly. This may be because statin drugs have other properties, such as protecting the body from damaging factors such as inflammation, along with their better-known cholesterol lowering features.

Learn more about how this drug affects you

What you can do

This information is likely to be important for your health.

Let your doctor(s) know about this genetic result.
Carry this information with you should it be needed in a medical consultation or emergency.
Consider sharing this information with your family.

If you have elevated cholesterol now or in the future, your physician may want to include simvastatin or pravastatin in your treatment plan.

Learn more about what you can do

Who responds differently?

Statins are the most prescribed drugs for lowering levels of cholesterol and other fatty substances in the blood. But people’s responses to statins vary, and almost one third of patients do not meet their cholesterol treatment goals. People with a certain variant in a gene that helps the body process cholesterol are less likely to see cholesterol reduction while taking statins, and may discontinue statin therapy as a result. However, among people with this particular genetic profile, scientific evidence shows that statins are actually beneficial in terms of increased survival after a heart attack.

Genetics is only part of the story. Additional health status factors, such as diet, exercise, and stress, also contribute to your overall cholesterol levels and risk of dying after heart attack.

Learn more about drug effectiveness