Should I Continue Taking My Cholesterol-Lowering Medication If I Have Chronic Kidney Disease?

— -- Question: I have been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. Should I continue taking my cholesterol-lowering medication?

Answer: For people with chronic kidney disease, managing other cardiovascular risk factors that can lead to coronary heart disease is important. So continuation of medication such as cholesterol-lowering medications is critical to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in chronic kidney disease patients.

Now there are some special considerations that we need to think about. In particular, some drugs -- while effective -- may need to be lowered in dose because of the kidney failure, or other drugs might need to be substituted because of improved safety profiles.

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