Welchol

What is Welchol?

This medication is used along with a proper diet and exercise to lower cholesterol in people with high levels of cholesterol in the blood. Lowering cholesterol decreases the risk of heart disease and helps prevent strokes and heart attacks. Colesevelam is also used along with a proper diet and exercise to lower high blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. Controlling high blood sugar helps prevent kidney damage, blindness, nerve problems, loss of limbs, and sexual function problems. Proper control of diabetes may also lessen your risk of a heart attack or stroke. Colesevelam belongs to a class of drugs called bile acid-binding resins. Bile acid is a natural substance the liver makes by using cholesterol. This medication works by removing bile acid from the body. This causes the liver to make more bile acid by using cholesterol, which reduces cholesterol levels in the blood. It is not known how colesevelam works in lowering blood sugar.