Statin pills rarely cause muscle pain or problems, study finds
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According to the authors of a sizable study, people taking cholesterol-lowering statins can take comfort in the fact that muscle soreness is not common when taking the medication.
The medicines can fend off heart attacks and strokes, but they have received some negative headlines due to a very small chance of serious muscle inflammation.
Patients should not abruptly cease taking their medications for minor muscular aches, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Data from about 155,000 people were used to draw the conclusions.
They had enrolled in several statin trials evaluating the drug’s effectiveness and potential negative effects.
Regardless of whether they were taking statin pills or not, participants frequently complained of muscle soreness or weakness. Some of the volunteers were given a statin instead of a placebo or fake tablet as a comparison.
Muscle aches were observed by about one in four people in both the statin and placebo groups.
The researchers found that throughout the first year of medication, statin therapy caused a 7% relative increase in muscular pain or weakness compared to placebo, indicating that only one in 15 of these muscle-related comments by patients taking statins was brought on by the statin.
According to the researchers’ calculations, there was an absolute extra risk of muscular complaints caused by a statin of 11 per 1,000 individuals treated in the first year.
There was no discernible difference between individuals taking statins and those taking a placebo after the first year of treatment in terms of reports of muscle soreness or weakness.
The findings were presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona this year and have been published in The Lancet.
Prof. Colin Baigent, co-lead author: “A common misconception among some patients and medical professionals is that statins could contribute to prolonged muscle soreness. Our research, however, demonstrates that, in most cases, muscle soreness among statin users is not brought on by the medication. “
With millions of users, statins are one of the most frequently prescribed medications in the UK. Every year, over 160,000 people in the UK pass away from cardiovascular disease.
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