Which cholesterol drug is safest for liver?
Doctor’s response. Low dose statins like atorvastatin (Lipitor) are safe in patients with mild liver disease (for example, patients with fatty liver and mildly abnormal liver tests in the blood such as ALT and AST).
What cholesterol medicine does not affect the liver?
Statin Subclasses and Their Pleiotropic Effects Whereas atorvastatin, lovastatin, simva-statin, and fluvastatin are lipophilic and metabolized by the cytochrome P-450 system; pravastatin and pitavastatin are hydrophilic and undergo minimal hepatic metabolization, while rosuvastatin has an intermediate behavior [10].
Which statin is safest for liver?
Large randomized trials have proven the safety of low to moderate doses of lovastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, atorvastatin, and rosuvastatin, showing no significantly increased risk of liver biochemistry abnormalities.
Do statins hurt your liver?
Statins should not be taken if you have severe liver disease or if blood tests suggest that your liver may not be working properly. This is because statins can affect your liver, and this is more likely to cause serious problems if you already have a severely damaged liver.
Do statins protect the liver?
It turns out that not only are significant side effects rare, but statin medications are likely beneficial for the liver. In fact, research has shown that for people with liver disease, statins are associated with a reduced risk of liver failure, liver cancer, and death (see this study, this study, and this study).
Is High Cholesterol Linked to fatty liver?
Cholesterol from food mostly ends up in the liver. If you are getting too much, this can increase your risk for fatty liver disease. High cholesterol also can turn fatty liver disease (steatosis) into a more serious and sometimes fatal condition known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
Can statins cause liver damage?
While statins are highly effective and safe for most people, they have been linked to muscle pain, digestive problems and mental fuzziness in some people who take them and may rarely cause liver damage.
Do statins cause fatty liver disease?
Statins can cause elevations in liver biochemistries and there is a concern that patients with underlying liver disease may be at increased risk for hepatotoxicity (Table 1) [11].