Lovastatin a statin drug to lower cholesterol works by inhibiting cholesterol production by your liver as it lowers overall cholesterol, significantly reduces LDL cholesterol levels, also called the bad cholesterol since it builds up in artery walls leading to atherosclerosis that can eventually manifest in heart attacks or strokes. By reducing LDL cholesterol atheroscleriosis or the hardening and narrowing of the arteries can often be reversed.

Taking Lovastatin will eventually lower your cholesterol as most statin drugs but in the meanwhile in can result in serious side effects some even mostly dangerous. Lovastatin also known as Mevacor or Altocor can lead to muscle disease also known as myopathy. In myopathy the muscle content break out, as protein is being released into the blood stream causing the kidneys that need to process that protein to breakdown as well. This process is also known as kidney failure. The most common symptoms of myopathy are: severe muscle pain and weakness.

If your blood has high levels of an enzyme called reductase that is aimed at accelerating the process of reduction in chemical compounds, you are in an even greater risk to develop myopathy as a result of taking Lovastatin.

If Lovastatin is taken along with consuming large amounts of grapefruit juice or with the intake of HIV protease inhibitors, or with danazol, the drug that is used to treat endometriosis, there can be even greater and more dangerous side effects. Lovastatin can harm the fetus and therefore should not be taken by pregnant woman. It is also recommended that people with liver problems should not take Lovastatin since it inhibits the production of cholesterol by the liver. The more minor side effects of Lovastatin are headaches, constipation and nausea.

All of the above side effects can be avoided if one takes the obligatory steps towards lifestyle and dietary changes, exercising and yoga to lower cholesterol naturally.