While some have to fight the battle of the bulge for mere shallow reasons, there are those who do all the dieting and exercising to reduce their cholesterol levels just to stay alive. And while cholesterol is an important component of the membranes of cells, playing an important part in maintaining brain synapses as well as in the immune system, it is also the largest cause of heart attack and stroke.

While it is great that most people who are suffering from high levels of cholesterol go to their dieticians to have their daily eating habits tweaked by following a strict meal plan in order to help them lower their cholesterol levels (hopefully back to normal levels), some people have really gone overboard, but if you feel compelled to lower your cholestorol, consult with your doctor, most doctors are fine with prescribing cholesterol reducing drugs.

When coupled with a healthy diet and regular exercise, the drugs can make quite a difference in your cholesterol levels, at least enough that your levels can be considered safe.

There are four kinds of cholesterol reducing drugs:

1. Bile acid

Sequesterants are cholesterol reducing drugs that aim to bind with the bile that is being produced by ones liver. The bile helps out in our digestion as well as in the absorption of fats from the intestine. This cholesterol reducing drug blocks out the digestion of fats from the bile to help prevent the formation of cholesterol. Various cholesterol reducing drugs in this category are the following:

- Colestipol
- Colestid
- Coleseyalam
- Welchol
- Cholestyramine
- Questran

2. Statins

Popularly known as statins, the HMG-CoA inhibitors are cholesterol reducing drugs that prevent the enzyme called 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-conenzyme, a reductase, from converting fat into cholesterol. This cholesterol reducing drug is seen as the most effective one in the market today and does some added good to ones body as 2003 reports claim that people with heart failure but no coronary artery diseases receive great benefits from this in as early as 14 weeks.

Popular drugs from this cholesterol reducing drug group include:

- Simvastatin
- Zocor
- Cerivastatin
- Baycol
- Fluvastatin
- Lescol
- Lovastatin
- Mevacor
- Prevastatin
- Pravachol
- Atorvastatin
- Lipitor

3. Fibric Acid

The cholesterol reducing drug called fibric acid and its derivaties are less effective than the statins when in comes to lowering ones cholesterol level.

Popular drugs under this kind of cholesterol reducing drugs are:

- Clofibrate
- Atormid-S
- Gemfibrozil
- Lopid
- Fenofribrate
- Tricor

4. Niacin

Niacin, or vitamin B-3, also is effective in lowering cholesterol levels. Although the normal vitamin dose of niacin is only set at 20 mg for each day, the dose required to reduce cholesterol levels is at least 500 mg each day. Niacin helps reduce cholesterol by inhibiting very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) secretion in the bloodstream.