statin

noun

1. Any of a class of drugs (chiefly lactones or pyrroles) that lower the amount of cholesterol in the blood by inhibiting an enzyme involved in its biosynthesis.

   “The researchers found that statins were likely to provide benefits at a substantially higher health risk than expected and that those risk levels were lower for atorvastatin and rosuvastatin than for simvastatin and pravastatin. […] Yet some of the statin side effects mentioned in the study have not been proved in the scientific literature or are exaggerated and could cause unnecessary worry, he said.”

   “Among the latest are reports of the ability of several leading statins to reduce deaths from common cancers and blunt the decline of memory with age.”

2. An inhibiting hormone; a hormone that is involved primarily in inhibiting the release of another hormone.