Atorvastatin is medication used to lower cholesterol and triglycerides (fats) levels to help prevent prevent heart disease, angina (chest pain), strokes, and heart attacks. Atorvastatin calcium belongs to a class of medications called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins). Atorvastatin calcium works by slowing the production of cholesterol in the body to decrease the amount of cholesterol that may build up on the walls of the arteries and block blood flow to the heart, brain, and other parts of the body.
Atorvastatin is used together with diet, weight loss, and exercise to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke and to decrease the chance that heart surgery will be needed in people who have heart disease or who are at risk of developing heart disease.
Atorvastatin is also used to lower the amount of fatty substances such as low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (‘bad cholesterol’) and triglycerides in the blood and to increase the amount of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (‘good cholesterol’) in the blood.