On call: Simvastatin in the morning?
Like the other statin drugs, simvastatin (Zocor, generic) reduces the liver's production of cholesterol, mainly by inhibiting a liver enzyme called HMG-CoA reductase (and that's the short name!). The liver normally produces less cholesterol while the food you've eaten is releasing its cholesterol into your bloodstream. That means your liver churns out cholesterol fastest at night, when your stomach is empty. And since simvastatin is cleared from the blood rapidly, it makes sense to have it on board when it will do the most good.
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