ProLipid

Each type of "hyperlipidemia" such as high cholesterol or high triglycerides must be treated with a different class or combination of drugs.

There is a difference between the "active ingredient" and the trade-name of a drug. The active ingredient is the chemical compound that actually causes the desired pharmacological effect, where as the trade name refers to the finished product, e.g. a pill with active ingredient and all the additives ("excipients") such as binding agents, colors or flavors. The trade names (such as Lipitor? or Zocor?) are familiar to us, whereas the active ingredients (in these cases, they are statins) may not.

In this article, I will talk about lipid disorders and active ingredients, before looking at actual drugs (Lipitor?, Niaspan?, Lopid?, Zetia? and the like) in the next article.

Types of Lipid Disorders

Lipids are fat-like substances such as triglycerides (= plant oils and animal fats), fatty acids, and cholesterol. There are 3 main types of lipid disorders: one where blood (or "serum") cholesterol is too high (hypercholesterolemia), one where blood tryiglycerides are too high (hypertriglyceridemia), and a combination of the two where both types of lipids are too high (= combined hyperlipidemia).

Sometimes, you will also hear the word "dys"lepidemia ("dys" meaning 'abnormal' or 'impaired', "lipidemia" meaning lipid disorder) instead of "hyper"lipidemia ("hyper" meaning 'above' or 'excessive').

*Care must be taken when combining Statins with Fibrates because of a potential increase in severe side effects. If Fibrates must be combined with a Statin, Fenofibrate should be used because this fibrate causes fewer side effects.

The matter is complicated a bit by the fact that there are different kinds of statins, as well as different kinds of fibrates (although not nearly as many).

Please have a look at "Which Statin is Best" for thorough overview on different statins, or at "Fibrates" for a short description of the more common fibrates.