Statins are drugs that can lower your cholesterol. They work by blocking a substance that your body needs to make cholesterol.

Lowering cholesterol isn't the only benefit of taking a statin. These medicines also have been linked to a lower risk of heart disease and stroke. Statins also may help reduce the risk of certain blood clots.

A number of statins are available for use in the United States. They include:

• Atorvastatin (Lipitor).
• Fluvastin (Lescol XL).
• Lovastatin (Altoprev).
• Pitavastatin (Livalo).
• Pravastatin.
• Rosuvastatin (Crestor).
• Simvastatin (Zocor).

Sometimes, a statin is combined with another heart medicine. Examples are atorvastatin-amlodipine (Caduet) and ezetimibe-simvastatin (Vytorin).