Definition of "statin" [statin]

• Any of a class of lipid-lowering drugs that reduce serum cholesterol levels by inhibiting a key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of cholesterol. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It may be that someone who has had muscle pain from a statin is at a higher risk of muscle pain from ezetimibe, but there is currently no information about that."
• "A controversial study showing that the blockbuster cholesterol-lowering drug Vytorin failed to slow the buildup of artery plaques more than a cheaper statin is certain to provoke questions among heart patients taking Vytorin or its sister drug Zetia."
• "According to the New England Journal of Medicine, boosting HDL cholesterol with extended-release niacin (Niaspan) is a more effective way of slowing atherosclerosis in high-risk patients on long-term statin therapy than seeking additional LDL cholesterol reductions by adding ezetimibe."