Statin Muscle Toxicity
Even people who don’t experience pain or weakness on cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may be suffering muscle damage.
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Supplementary Info
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Sources Cited
Draeger A, Monastyrskaya K, Mohaupt M, Hoppeler H, Savolainen H, Allemann C, Babiychuk EB. Statin therapy induces ultrastructural damage in skeletal muscle in patients without myalgia. J Pathol. 2006 Sep;210(1):94-102 Scott D, Blizzard L, Fell J, Jones G. Statin therapy, muscle function and falls risk in community-dwelling older adults. QJM. 2009 Sep;102(9):625-33. Mohaupt MG, Karas RH, Babiychuk EB, Sanchez-Freire V, Monastyrskaya K, Iyer L, Hoppeler H, Breil F, Draeger A. Association between statin-associated myopathy and skeletal muscle damage. CMAJ. 2009 Jul 7;181(1-2):E11-8. -
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Very interesting studies. Do you think the medical community knows this information given how readily statins are prescribed?
Postmarketing surveillance studies suggest that side-effects patients may by under-reporting adverse drug reactions to their physicians. For anyone on statins it’s critically important to let your doctor know immediately if you start experiencing muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness, lack of energy, fever, chest pain, nausea, extreme tiredness, unusual bleeding or bruising, loss of appetite, pain in the upper right part of the stomach, flu-like symptoms, yellowing of the skin or eyes, rash, hives, itching, difficulty breathing or swallowing, hoarseness, or swelling of the face, throat, tongue, lips, eyes, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs.
In addition to muscle toxicity there is an increased risk of diabetes.
Culver AL, Ockene IS, Balasubramanian R, et al. Statin use and risk of diabetes mellitus in postmenopausal women in the Women’s Health Initiative. Arch Intern Med 2012; DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.625. Available at: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/.
Johansen KL. Increased diabetes mellitus risk with statin use. Arch Intern Med 2012; DOI: 10.1001/archinternmed.2011.625. Available at: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/.
Thanks for pointing that out. I tried to put statin use in more context in my blog as well Generic Lipitor is not the answer to our heart disease epidemic.