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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Differential Effects of Lipid-lowering Drugs in Modulating Morphology of Cholesterol Particles
Published on: November 10, 2017
Maximizing the benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs
1Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Purpose Of Review:
Drugs to lower LDL-C levels are very widely used. In this brief review, I will use selected recent studies to delineate several important principles that provide a rationale for how to maximize the benefits of using LDL-C lowering drugs to reduce cardiovascular disease. The focus will be on using statins, ezetimibe, and PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies as recent studies have predominantly utilized these agents.
Recent Findings:
The key principles to consider when using LDL-C-lowering drugs to reduce cardiovascular disease are: the lower the LDL-C the better; the sooner and the longer one lowers LDL-C the better; the higher the risk of cardiovascular disease the greater the absolute benefit; the higher the baseline LDL-C the greater the absolute benefit; and compared with the benefits of cholesterol-lowering drugs on reducing cardiovascular disease the risk of side effects is very modest.
Summary:
Understanding and employing these key concepts in caring for patients will allow one to use cholesterol-lowering drugs wisely to maximize the reduction of cardiovascular events.
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