High cholesterol is a common problem in people, especially today with the availability of fatty fast food and the decrease in the amount of exercise people do. Drugs like Lipitor, which is the brand name product of the drug atorvastatin, is prescribed to lower the amounts of LDL cholesterol (which is bad), total cholesterol, triglycerides and apolipoprotein while increasing the amount of HDL cholesterol (which is good) in your blood. Lowering the bad cholesterol in your blood helps to decrease the chances of heart problems, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.