Statins have adverse side effects--study

Millions of people across the globe who consume these statins to cut their incidence of a heart attack actually face an increased risk of liver damage, kidney failure and cataract thereafter, the researchers warn.

Details of the study
Data collected from 368 GP practices in England and Wales over a six-year period, January 2002 through January 2008, covering more than two million patients aged between 30 and 84 was used for the study.

Of all the patients under study, 225,922 or a little over 10 percent were new users of statins. The other patients had been prescribed a range of different statins. 159,790 or 70.7 percent of them were prescribed simvastatin, while 50,328 or 22.3 percent were on atorvastatin.

Side-effects of statins already documented include insomnia, diarrhoea, headaches, loss of appetite and pain in the nerve endings, especially of the hands and feet.

June Davison, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation said, "We already know that a small number of people taking statins experience unwanted side effects. However, for people with, or at high risk of heart disease, the benefits of statins far outweigh this risk.

"Anybody experiencing side effects while taking statins should speak to their doctor," advised Davison.

The positives
The present study added a heightened risk of liver dysfunction, kidney failure, myopathy and cataracts to the list. These risks persisted during the treatment, but were at the peak in the first year.

The analysis also revealed that statins decreased risk of oesophageal cancer. The results also revealed that there is no significant relationship between the consumption of statins and the risk of Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, blood clot, dementia and osteoporotic fracture.

Professor Julia Hippisley-Cox, a GP and lead author of the study, claimed that his team has devised a computer program to enable doctors to figure out which patients were more vulnerable to the risk of side-effects.

"People should be able to make an informed choice," said Julia. "There are risks and benefits to all medicines, but if you have a patient at higher risk than average of something serious you might want to warn them to come back if they have problems."

Findings of the study, undertaken by the researchers of University of Nottingham, have been published in the British Medical Journal.