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Ezetimibe/Simvastatin: A Guide to its Clinical Use in Hypercholesterolemia

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Abstract

Ezetimibe/simvastatin therapy combines two lipid-lowering compounds with complementary mechanisms of action, thereby blocking the two sources of plasma cholesterol and improving lipid profiles. Ezetimibe/simvastatin is an effective and generally well tolerated adjunct to dietary therapy for markedly reducing lowdensity lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and improving other lipid parameters across diverse patient populations. Dual treatment with ezetimibe/simvastatin is more effective than monotherapy with an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (statin), and the addition of ezetimibe to current statin therapy is more effective than doubling the statin dose.

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Acknowledgments and Disclosures

This article was reviewed by: M. Averna, Department of Clinical Medicine and Emerging Diseases, University of Palermo Medical School, Palermo, Italy; W.H. Frishman, Department of Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY, USA; S. Saluja, Consultant in Internal Medicine, Saran Ashram, Agra, India.

The preparation of this article was not supported by any external funding. During the peer review process, the manufacturer of the agent under review was offered an opportunity to comment on the articles. Changes resulting from comments received were made by the authors on the basis of scientific and editorial merit.

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Correspondence to Katherine A. Lyseng-Williamson.

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Lyseng-Williamson, K.A. Ezetimibe/Simvastatin: A Guide to its Clinical Use in Hypercholesterolemia. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs 12, 49–56 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2165/11209150-000000000-00000

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