Facts:
• Belong To A group of drugs called “Statins” And Is Used to reduce bad cholesterol like LDL And Triglyceride Level In the Blood.While Increasing level of good cholesterol.
• It Is also used to prevent Angina ,heart attack and stroke and decrease the risk of Heart diseases.
• It is being tested for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in a phase 3 clinical trials .This trial will take six years to complete and results are expected in 2023.
• It is a prescription-only medicine. However the 10mg tablets can be bought without a prescription to lower the risk of having a heart attack in people with a moderate risk of heart disease.
• One Of the top Prescribing Drug In United States With Over 94 million Prescriptions.
• Take simvastatin even if you feel well, as you will still be getting the benefits. Most people with high cholesterol don’t have any symptoms.
Mechanism Of Action:
There are two types of cholesterol; One is ‘bad’ type known as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and the other is ‘good’ type known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL). LDL is deposited in the arteries and increases the risk of heart disease like atherosclerosis.In this, the arteries become clogged and narrow while HDL actually protects the arteries against this.
Simvastatin works by reducing the production of LDL cholesterol by the liver. This has a knock-on effect of making the liver cells take up LDL cholesterol from the blood. Simvastatin also causes a small decrease in the production of other ‘bad fats’ in the blood called triglycerides and a small increase in the level of HDL cholesterol. The overall result is lowered levels of ‘bad fats’ and raised levels of ‘good fats’ in the blood.
Simvastatin Doses:
• For Cardiovascular prevention, The usual dose of simvastatin is 20 to 40 mg/day orally once a day in the evening.
• Patient With Coronary heart disease:10 to 20 mg orally once a day in the evening
• For Homozygous Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Usual dose of 40 mg orally once a day in the evening
• It is not recommended for children age less than 10 years.And for age 10 or more in familial hypercholesterolemia, the initial dose should be 10 mg/day orally in the evening and then a maintenance dose of 40 mg/day orally.
Simvastatin Side effects:
Simvastatin is one of the safest medicine, it’s unusual to have side effects but still if You feel any of the following Side Effects below immediately call your doctor
- Pain or burning when you urinate
- Swelling, weight gain, little or no urinating
- Memory problems , Confusion, Fever, unusual tiredness, and dark colored urine
- Unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness
- Upper stomach pain, Nausea, itching, loss of appetite, clay-colored stools, dark urine, And jaundice.
- Increased urination, Increased thirst, hunger, weight loss, dry mouth, drowsiness, dry skin, fruity breath odor, blurred vision.
Less serious side effects may include:
- Mild skin rash;
- Headache;
- Constipation, stomach pain or indigestion, mild nausea;
- Joint pain,
- Mild muscle pain;
- Sleep problems (insomnia); or
- Cold symptoms such as stuffy nose, sneezing, sore throat.