The Nature of the Drug: Crestor (also known by its generic name rosuvastatin) is a cholesterol-lowering statin drug. In 2011, Crestor’s manufacturer AstraZeneca plc reported $6.6 billion in global sales of the product.
Crestor is used to prevent and treat heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. The drug impedes the dangerous process by which bad cholesterol accumulates in the arteries and thereby diminishes blood flow to the heart, brain, or other parts of the body. Crestor decreases bad cholesterol that restricts arterial blood flow, by Crestor’s lowering the user’s level of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). And Crestor encourages arterial blood flow by increasing good cholesterol—a substance that protects against heart disease—by raising the user’s level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL).
