If you are suffering from high cholesterol then there are a number of different types of medication that your doctor can prescribe you and they will have both their advantages and disadvantages. Some of them are designed to make changes to the way that your body handles cholesterol while others try and reduce it and as a general rule, the high cholesterol treatment that you receive will be alongside lifestyle changes such as eating a healthier diet and exercising more. For the younger generation, this lifestyle change will be attempted before medication is given.

Statins are the most popular and effective medicines given to those that suffer from high cholesterol and the different types of medication that are available with this contained within it is rather a substantial number. There have been a lot of clinical studies and evidence to back the positive effects that Statins have on lower cholesterol and they are among the most used ingredients in cholesterol medications. They have also been proved to reduce the risks of heart attacks and also death.

There are many brand names of high cholesterol medications and this can make learning about them rather complicated. The ones that are most used to reduce the amount of cholesterol that your liver produces are Lipitor, Mecavor and Pravachol but they have their own generic names as well and may also be produced and manufactured by different companies therefore having different brand names.

There are also combinations of high cholesterol medications that contain statins and these also reduce the amount of cholesterol that the liver is producing but can also change how cholesterol is absorbed into the body, lower the blood pressure and also raise the good and lower the bad parts of the cholesterol. These brand named products may include Vytorin, Caduet and Advicor.

Other types of high cholesterol medications may be used in conjunction with statins to change the way that cholesterol is removed from the body and also lower the amounts of cholesterol that is being absorbed into the body.

As a general rule, your doctor or other healthcare professional will try and change your diet and exercise regimes before he or she will prescribe you with high cholesterol medications and there are a few exceptions to the rule, and these exceptions are those that have coronary heat disease, strokes and other heart problems. However when taking high cholesterol medications it is important to remember that your lifestyle will still need to change, especially if you are overweight to prevent further health risks and to ensure that the medications are working more efficiently.

Online Pharmacies are not legal in most civilized countries. There are very good reasons why this is so and it is not just a case of “control” or of big brother keeping an eye on you. Here are just a few reasons why online pharmacies in general can be bad for your health. I will return specifically to Viagra later.

? Most prescription medications need the input of a health care profession if they are not to be amused. Often, simple lifestyle changes can render the use of medications obsolete. However, lifestyle change requires human effort. It is so much easier to buy online than it is for example to loose weight, take more exercise or stop smoking.

? Prescription medications need to be taken in the proper dose and in a prescribed manner. Otherwise, they are open to abuse and can be damaging or addictive. Sleeping tablets are a good example of harmful medication when not controlled. Online Pharmacies offer no such control.

? Online pharmacies are uncontrolled and uncontrollable. Therefore no assurances can be given that product is in fact what it says it is on the package. Generic or worse still, totally fake tablets or capsules can be dispensed. You simply have no way of knowing what is or is not what you hope it is.

? But even more worrying than this is the possibility of lethal contamination. There are on record cases of where active ingredient or excipients have, wittingly or unwittingly, found their way into spurious pharmaceutical products with fatal consequences.

These serious reservations apply to all medications purchased from Online Pharmacies. However, in the case of Viagra and other erectile dysfunction treatments, there are additional pitfall and dangers that are particularly worrying. I can only touch on a few of these here but this should give you an idea:

? Viagra is now the biggest selling online pharmaceutical in the world.

? Not all, or even most, erectile dysfunction requires Viagra to fix it.

? Viagra is now widely used as a ‘recreational drug’ in the mistaken belief that it improves erections where no dysfunction exists. If it were not for internet selling this situation would not have evolved.

? Taken in this way Viagra can actually CAUSE erectile dysfunction by allowing for a ‘performance anxiety’ situation to develop. Performance anxiety is the commonest cause of erectile dysfunction that there is.

? Much erectile dysfunction is not in fact fixt by using Viagra or Cialis. However, the self-medicating may not realize this and be inappropriately driven to depths of despair when these drugs fail to work. I see this all the time in my practice.

Normally I am all in favor of patient’s autonomy and of people taking charge of their own illnesses. I am not in principle opposed to sensible self-medicating and self-care. People cannot go running to their doctor or drugstore with every little sniffle and sneeze. Indeed, I once argued for the free availability of the “morning after” pill as a means of reducing abortion demand. But Online Pharmacies? I think not and I hope that after reading this you might agree with me.