Drug Classes: Bile Acid Sequestrants

Used to treat: Primary hypercholesterolemia, complications of elevated bile acid levels

Mechanism of Action: Bind bile salts in GI tract, resulting in decrased bile acid clearance

Contraindications: Complete biliary obstruction, children (increased risk of intestinale blockage, possibly deadly)

Lipid Dysfunction: High Cholesterol and Its Effects

High Cholesterol, hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, dyslipidemia - while not completely interchangeable, they're all commonly used to refer to the same problem. High cholesterol, however is actually a misnomer. There are two types of cholesterol, high-density lipoprotien (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (Technically there is a third "very low density lipoprotein," but for the purposes of this discussion, we're going to include them in the LDL). LDL is the "bad" cholesterol and when the doctor refers to patient as having high cholesterol, this is the number that they're worried about. HDL is good cholesterol and doctors typically want this number to be high.