Good news for high cholesterol sufferers.
An effective alternative to statins will soon be available on the market, which are the traditional drug that the doctor prescribes for those suffering from hypercholesterolemia, but which has always been debated because of its side effects.

From today, there is a valid alternative to statins, much more effective according to the experts: it is the Anti-PCSK9 drugs . They are particular drugs that would be able to halve cholesterol in the blood, blocking its production by the liver.

WHAT IS CHOLESTEROL AND WHAT HIGH CHOLESTEROL MEANS

As we know, cholesterol is a sterol, therefore a lipid, produced up to 80% by the human body.
And when the values ​​are too high, it is believed that it can be a risk to our cardiovascular health, particularly when the “bad” cholesterol values ​​are high.
Bad cholesterol is the product of the action of low density lipoproteins or LDL .
When the ratio of high cholesterol to bad cholesterol exceeds a certain limit, we speak of cardiovascular risk.

Depending on this ratio, your doctor may decide to use statins, drugs that block cholesterol formation but have many side effects.

The new family of  Anti-PCSK9 drugs would be able to reduce cholesterol by 50%.

And according to experts it’s safer than statins, because it won’t poison the liver and muscles.

Another big difference is that they are injectable and not oral medications.
According to Italian doctors, they are not to be considered an alternative, but an addition to traditional therapy.

When will the Anti-PCSK9 be on the market?
Soon. In fact, at the moment the pharmaceutical companies are competing to see who arrives first to put them on the market. Both  the alirocumab from Sanofi (Pranuent) and the evolocumab from Amgen have obtained approval for marketing in Europe and also in Italy.
The Pranuent would be on sale from 2017.

We will find both of these drugs shortly, but our doctor will decide whether or not they are right for us.

The only drawback, the cost: it seems that both will cost more than statins.