Why Take a Cholesterol Pill at Night?

Cholesterol pills with a short half-life work best when taken at night.

Cholesterol pills, or statins, reduce cholesterol in your blood and lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes. While many people take their medicines in the morning, this may not be the best time to swallow your statin.

Effects

Statins lower cholesterol in two ways: by blocking the liver's ability to produce cholesterol and by making the liver draw LDL ("bad") cholesterol from the blood.

Theory

Simvastatin, for example, works best to lower LDL when taken in the evening, Dr. Roda Plakogiannis writes in the Jan. 2, 2007, online issue of the "Annals of Pharmacotherapy." Cholesterol levels are highest in the evening.

Time Frame

According to CVSpectrum.org, statin half-lives vary. A half-life is time it takes a drug or other chemical to decrease by one-half in your blood. Statins with half-lives of one hour to five hours are more effective when taken in the evening. These include lovastatin, simvastatin and fluvastatin.

Considerations

CVspectrum.org, a medical education website, says it doesn't matter when you take statins that have half-lives between 14 and 22 hours, such as pravastatin, rosuvastatin and atorvastatin.

Tips

Follow label instructions for the best possible cholesterol-lowering effect. According to Harvard Health Publications, taking Mevacor (lovastatin) on an empty stomach, instead of with food, can decrease its effectiveness by almost 50 percent.

References

• CVspectrum.org: Why Are Statins Often Administered at Night?
• Harvard Health Publications: The Healthy Heart: Preventing, Detecting, and Treating Coronary Artery Disease
• The Annals of Pharmacotherapy: Optimal Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Lowering

Resources

• Bandolier: Statins: When Should You Take the Tablet?