Is Fish Oil safe with Cholesterol Medicines?
By Geoffrey R. Harris, MD Things always seem to come in three’s, even as a physician. Just in the past week I’ve had two patients worried about taking fish oil with their cholesterol medicines. The third person to express the same concern posted a question at the SuperfoodsRx website. Fate seemed to be pushing and I decided it would be a good topic for the Superfoods Newsletter. The simple answer is, “Yes, it is safe to take fish oil with cholesterol medicine.” Now, some might stop reading at this point, but I think most would like some further explanation and clarification. In my experience, cholesterol and lipid lowering medications tend to cause a great deal of anxiety in patients. Cholesterol medications, especially the “statin” type, have a number of reported side-effects, can damage the liver, and get a great deal of bad press. The “statin” family includes: Crestor (rosuvastatin), Lipitor (atorvastatin), Zocor (simvastatin), Mevacor (lovastatin), Pravachol (pravastatin), and Lesc
