Statins are the most common medicine for high cholesterol, according to the health service.
Statins work by reducing the amount of cholesterol your body makes.
You usually have to continue taking statins for life because if you stop taking them, your cholesterol will return to a high level within a few weeks.
Many people who take statins experience no or very few side effects. Nonetheless, the NHS warns others experience some “troublesome” side effects, “such as diarrhoea, a headache or feeling sick”.