# The Downside of Statins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416 "2010-05-31T20:08:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/1 "2010-05-31T20:08:33Z")
I’ve recently been told that the cholesterol-lowering drugs (Crestor, et.al.) can have debilitating side effects when taken for a long time. Anybody care to comment? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/2 "2010-05-31T20:15:03Z")
Cite? While there are well documented side effects I’m not aware of any long term studies that show debilitating side effects other than those that are known. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/3 "2010-05-31T20:30:08Z")
Well for the OP I’d suggest the wiki page for statins –\> [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statin). After that, if there’s an actual question and not broad supposition we could always try again. > [@](#): > > Multiple other side-effects occur rarely; typically also at similar rates with only placebo in the large statin safety/efficacy trials. Two randomized clinical trials found cognitive issues while two did not; recurrence upon reintroduction suggests that these are causally related to statins in some individuals.[31] One Danish study in 2002[32] suggested a relation between long term statin use and increased risk of nerve damage or polyneuropathy[33] but suggested this side effect is “rare, but it does occur”;[34] other researchers have pointed to studies of the effectiveness of statins in trials involving 50,000 people which have not shown nerve damage as a significant side effect.[35] So there may be sufficient evidence to warrant further review, but nothing I can see that would suggest you not take them for extend periods if directed by your doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/db5fbb/32.png) [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hirka_T_Bawa)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/4 "2010-05-31T20:39:11Z")
There are side effects to taking Statins, but I can’t think of any that has a greater instance with long term use, then short term use. The most serious side effect that statins has is rhabdomyolysis, which though rare (\< 1/100,000 prescriptions), is serious enough, that we do monitor it clinically. But it could happen when you first start, or after being on therapy for years. Do you know what the side effect the person who told you was referring to? ---
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/5 "2010-05-31T20:43:44Z")
I’d venture to guess that any debilitating side-effects of taking statins are pretty minor compared to the debilitating effects of not taking them when your cholesterol levels (like mine) are high. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/6 "2010-05-31T21:23:22Z")
I have nothing more to add except that ‘statins’ as a class are not only among the most prescribed drugs in the world (rightly or wrongly), they are also about the most scrutinized. So in addition to the usual early clinical studies, there have been many analyses of hundreds of thousands of statin users looking for “bad outcomes”, even rare ones which would have escaped detection in smaller clinical studies. Bottom line is there are no debilitating side effects except as mentioned (i.e. rare cases of muscle breakdown, with most of them occurring in people using drugs that interact with statins and, thus, should have been avoided). Again, not a new point, but it’s worth emphasizing that if you are going to consider the risk of taking statins, it behooves you to also consider the risk of _not_ taking them. ETA: All that being said, I have no doubt that isolated cases of almost anything have probably been reported among statin users. At ‘best’, those are very, very rare, and at worst, are just random associations (since statins are used by huge numbers of people). ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/7 "2010-05-31T21:34:45Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I’m not aware of any long term studies that show debilitating side effects other than those that are known. Indeed, nobody has ever been aware of anything that is not known. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sinisterniik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Sinisterniik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinisterniik)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/8 "2010-05-31T21:42:47Z")
This is something recent, basically confirming what has already been said: [Some statins have unintended effects and warrant closer monitoring, study finds -- ScienceDaily](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100526095658.htm) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/9 "2010-05-31T22:12:37Z")
> [@Sinisterniik](#): > > This is something recent, basically confirming what has already been said: [Some statins have unintended effects and warrant closer monitoring, study finds | ScienceDaily](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100526095658.htm) Thank you, this is exactly the type of huge study I was referring to. Two million patients! Huge. But what gets lost in the reporting is that not at all “bad outcomes” are equally serious. Look at the summary from the link: > [@](#): > > Overall, for every 10,000 high risk women treated with statins, there would be approximately 271 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease, 8 fewer cases of oesophageal cancer; 74 extra patients who experience liver dysfunction; 23 extra patients with acute renal failure, 307 extra patients with cataracts, and 39 extra patients with myopathy. Similar figures were found for men except rates of myopathy were higher. “Liver dysfunction” is often meaningless (in this context) and refers to abnormal blood tests, nothing more serious. “Acute renal failure” is usually reversible and (with respect to statin use) often occurs as a result of the myopathy - so a bit of double counting. Moreover, despite its ominous sound, “acute renal failure” can mean nothing more than a transient abnormality in blood test results (I checked the original paper and the definition used by the authors, was not provided AFAICS). Cataracts are real, no doubt. Still, they are usually simple to treat and not life-threatening. OTOH, “a case of cardiovascular disease” is usually not reversible and often culminates in death. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/10 "2010-05-31T23:17:21Z")
How about weight gain? It’s not as sexy as polyneuropathy and liver damage, but my mother was thin as a snake all her life until she started with the Lipitor and then other cholesterol meds. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/11 "2010-06-01T03:23:55Z")
oops ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-downside-of-statins/541416/12 "2010-06-01T03:29:29Z")
> [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > There are side effects to taking Statins, but I can’t think of any that has a greater instance with long term use, then short term use. > > The most serious side effect that statins has is rhabdomyolysis, which though rare (\< 1/100,000 prescriptions), is serious enough, that we do monitor it clinically. But it could happen when you first start, or after being on therapy for years. > > Do you know what the side effect the person who told you was referring to? > [@Hirka\_T\_Bawa](#): > > Do you know what the side effect the person who told you was referring to? He was referring to statins in general, in response to a question specifically about: Muscle ache, headache, fatigue/sleepiness, dry cough. All chronic, all moderate severity. The symptoms above have been persisting for months. I’ve been seeing my Doctor and various specialists (Neurologist; Sleep Study; ENT); so far everything checks out fine. It’s obvious to them and to me that my weight is a contributing factor, and I’ve already made the appropriate changes to my lifestyle. A health food type friend suggested that weight loss would probably enable me to discontinue my statin med, and told me why he thought they’re suspect. So considering the source, I thought I’d see what you folks had to say. Just curious.