Digestion Q&A by Dr. Lee

Answer:

Cholesterol Drugs Slideshow

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). Since many patients have fatty livers due to obesity as the cause of their mildly elevated AST and ALT; losing excess weight helps to normalize the liver tests. Nevertheless, there is insufficient data on the safety of statins in patients with more severe liver disease with moderate or severe elevations of AST or ALT. It also is important to monitor test levels periodically since statins should be stopped if liver tests become progressively more abnormal.

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