What is the difference between pravastatin sodium and simvastatin

Ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice if you're unsure how much to take. Don't reduce your dose without talking to your doctor first. In children aged 8 to 13 years old, the usual dose is 10mg to 20mg once a day.

In children aged 14 to 17 years old, the dose may range from 10mg to 40mg daily. Your doctor will work out the amount of pravastatin that's right for your child based on their age. If you occasionally forget to take a dose, take your next dose the next day at the usual time. Never take 2 doses at the same time. Never take extra doses. If you often forget doses, it may help to set an alarm to remind you. You could also ask your pharmacist for advice on other ways to help you remember to take your medicine.

Talk to your pharmacist or doctor if you're worried or if you take more than 1 extra dose. Pravastatin seems to be a very safe medicine and it's unusual to have side effects. However, different statins can affect people in different ways. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if side effects bother you or don't go away. They may recommend taking a different statin. One rare but serious side effect is unexplained muscle aches and pains.

This can happen a few weeks or months after you first start taking pravastatin. Report any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness or weakness to a doctor straight away. Another very rare side effect can be memory loss. This usually goes away when you stop taking the medicine. It happens rarely, but less than 1 in 1, people taking pravastatin may have a serious side effect.

In rare cases, it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction anaphylaxis to pravastatin. You could be having a serious allergic reaction and may need immediate treatment in hospital. These are not all the side effects of pravastatin. For a full list see the leaflet inside your medicines packet. You can report any suspected side effect to the UK safety scheme. Pravastatin is not recommended in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, as there's no firm evidence that it's safe.

Talk to your doctor if you want to get pregnant. It's best to stop taking pravastatin at least 3 months before you start trying for a baby.

If you become pregnant while taking pravastatin, stop taking the medicine and tell your doctor. It's not known if pravastatin gets into breast milk, but it may cause problems for your baby. You may be able to stop pravastatin temporarily while you breastfeed.

Some medicines interfere with the way pravastatin works and can increase the chances of you having serious side effects such as muscle damage.

If you're taking pravastatin and need to take one of these medicines, your doctor may:. There's very little information about taking herbal remedies and supplements with pravastatin. For safety, tell your doctor and pharmacist if you're taking any other medicines, including herbal remedies, vitamins or supplements.

Pravastatin acts on the liver to stop it making cholesterol. This lowers your blood cholesterol level. For the first 12 months on this medicine, you'll be offered a couple of routine tests to make sure your liver is working normally.

Your cholesterol levels should drop noticeably within 4 weeks - if you take your medicine regularly, as prescribed. Usually, treatment with a statin such as pravastatin is for life. The benefits will only continue for as long as you take it. If you stop taking pravastatin without starting a different treatment, your cholesterol level may rise again.

You may have read negative stories about statins, but they're thought to be very safe, effective medicines. Statins are thought to have very few side effects. Sometimes the side effects that people report aren't related to their medicine.

However, if you're concerned about the safety of statins, talk to your doctor. Ther Adv Cardiovasc Dis. J Cell Biochem. Coexpression of VEGF-C and cox-2 in human colorectal cancer and its association with lymph node metastasis.

Dis Colon Rectum. COX-2 mRNA expression is significantly increased in acid-exposed compared to nonexposed squamous epithelium in gastroesophageal reflux disease. J Gastrointest Surg. Prognostic role of cyclooxygenase-2 expression in esophageal carcinoma. Cancer Lett. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. CAS Google Scholar. Statins have biphasic effects on angiogenesis. The statins as anticancer agents. Clin Cancer Res. Metabolism and drug interactions of 3-hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A-reductase inhibitors statins.

Eur J Clin Pharmacol. Lovastatin-induced differentiation of anaplastic thyroid cancer cells via flotillin-1 as a downstream mediator. Endocr J. Unintended effects of statins from observational studies in the general population: systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Med. Meta-analysis of drug-induced adverse events associated with intensive-dose statin therapy.

Clin Ther. Statins and liver toxicity: a meta-analysis. Statin adverse effects : a review of the literature and evidence for a mitochondrial mechanism. Am J Cardiovasc Drugs. Download references. You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. ZZH contributed to the conception of the study. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Correspondence to Ze-Hao Zhuang. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Reprints and Permissions. Chen, Y. Simvastatin, but not pravastatin, inhibits the proliferation of esophageal adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma cells: a cell-molecular study.

Lipids Health Dis 17, Download citation. Received : 16 June Accepted : 11 December Published : 22 December Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:. Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article. Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative.

Skip to main content. Search all BMC articles Search. Download PDF. Abstract Background and objective Long-term statin therapy has been shown to protect against several cancers, including esophageal cancer EC.

Results Simvastatin, but not pravastatin, significantly inhibited the proliferation of OE and Eca cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner, accompanying with the increasing of the MDA level. Conclusions Lipophilic simvastatin, but not hydrophilic pravastatin, had significant inhibitory effects on the proliferation of Eca and OE cells.

Statistical analysis SPSS Full size image. Discussion As early as , researchers proposed that most cholesterol-lowering drugs were associated with cancer in rodents. Conclusion Our study suggested that lipophilic simvastatin but not hydrophilic pravastatin have a significant inhibition effect on the proliferation of Eca and OE cells, accompanying with the down-regulation of COX-2 and PGE2, which was independent of lipid-lowering effects.

References 1. Google Scholar Article Google Scholar CAS Google Scholar Acknowledgements Not applicable. Funding None. Availability of data and materials No additional files were included. View author publications. Ethics declarations Ethics approval and consent to participate The experimental procedures, and the animal use and care protocols were approved by the Committee on Ethical Use of Animals of The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University.

Also known as statin drugs, pravastatin and atorvastatin inhibit, or block, the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme, which leads to decreased cholesterol production in the liver. The use of statins also increases the amount of LDL low-density lipoprotein receptors in the liver, which helps lower levels of LDL, or the bad type of cholesterol, in the blood.

Both pravastatin and atorvastatin work in similar ways, but they have some differences to be aware of. Pravastatin is the generic name for Pravachol. Unlike other statin drugs, pravastatin is not extensively metabolized, or processed, by CYP3A4 enzymes in the liver. Instead, pravastatin is broken down in the stomach. Pravastatin generic tablets are available in strengths of 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg, and 80 mg.

Pravastatin is usually prescribed to be taken once daily in the evening. It has been shown that pravastatin is more effective when taken in the evening rather than in the morning. Lipitor is a brand-name medication and is available in a generic version called atorvastatin.

Unlike pravastatin, atorvastatin is heavily processed by the CYP3A4 enzyme in the liver. Therefore, atorvastatin may potentially interact with more medications than pravastatin. Lipitor is available in oral tablets with strengths of 10 mg, 20 mg, 40 mg, and 80 mg. Lipitor can be taken in the morning or evening, and it is usually taken once daily.

Pravastatin and atorvastatin can help reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people with coronary heart disease. Both medications can also help reduce the risk of death from heart disease. Risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, smoking, and high cholesterol levels.

Both pravastatin and atorvastatin are FDA approved to reduce elevated total-cholesterol and LDL levels also known as hyperlipidemia or hypercholesterolemia. Statin medications can also help treat elevated levels of triglycerides , which are another type of fats or lipids in the body. Someone with elevated levels of triglycerides has hypertriglyceridemia.

Pravastatin and Lipitor can also increase HDL levels in the blood. Both pravastatin and atorvastatin are effective medications for treating high blood cholesterol. The more effective drug depends on your overall condition, the severity of your condition, other drugs you might be taking, and other factors.

One comparative study found that there is no significant difference between pravastatin, simvastatin, and atorvastatin for preventing cardiovascular events. In other words, these statin drugs were similarly effective for reducing heart attacks and coronary heart disease.

A systematic review that pooled over 90 clinical trials compared statin drugs such as fluvastatin, atorvastatin, pravastatin, simvastatin, and rosuvastatin. The review concluded that atorvastatin, fluvastatin, and simvastatin had the highest probability of being the best treatment for preventing cardiovascular events. Consult a healthcare provider to determine the best statin drug for you. After conducting a blood test and evaluating your overall condition, a provider will be able to determine whether pravastatin or atorvastatin is a more effective drug for you.

They might also prescribe a different statin drug such as Zocor simvastatin or Crestor rosuvastatin. Pravastatin is a generic medication that is usually covered by Medicare and insurance plans.

Lipitor is a brand-name medication that is also available in a cheaper, generic version. The generic version of Lipitor, atorvastatin, is typically covered by most Medicare and insurance plans.