Statins May Be Linked To Muscle Damage
Editor's ChoiceMain Category: Statins
Also Included In: Cardiovascular / Cardiology; Cholesterol
Article Date: 07 Jul 2009 - 0:00 PDT
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'Statins May Be Linked To Muscle Damage'
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A recent study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) reports that patients taking statins with associated muscle complaints may have structural muscle damage.
Because of their important role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, statins are one of the most widely prescribed medications worldwide. However, many patients on statins develop muscle weakness and pain. In a number of cases, muscle biopsies confirm underlying structural injury, even in patients who do not show elevated levels of circulating creatine phosphokinase.
The study was the work of researchers from the University of Bern, Switzerland and the Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. They evaluated muscle biopsies from eighty three patients. Twenty of them had never taken statins. Results showed significant muscle injury in patients who had taken statins, including several who had discontinued medication before the biopsy.
Dr. Annette Draeger from the University of Bern and coauthors explain: "Although in clinical practice, the majority of patients with muscle symptoms improve rapidly after cessation of therapy, our findings support that a subgroup of patients appears to be more susceptible to statin-associated myotoxicity, suffering persistent structural injury."
The researchers call for further evaluation of alternative treatment strategies for patients with significant muscle symptoms.
"Association between statin-associated myopathy and skeletal muscle damage"
Markus G. Mohaupt, MD, Richard H. Karas, MD PhD, Eduard B. Babiychuk, PhD, Verónica Sanchez-Freire, Katia Monastyrskaya, PhD, Lakshmanan Iyer, PhD, Hans Hoppeler, MD, Fabio Breil and Annette Draeger, MD
CMAJ • July 7, 2009; 181 (1-2). doi:10.1503/cmaj.081785.
cmaj
Written by Stephanie Brunner (B.A.)
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today
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27 May. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156545.php>
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156545.php.
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Visitor Opinions (latest shown first)
My Side Effects From Simvastatin
posted by joyce hartnett on 29 Aug 2009 at 8:04 pmstarted about 1 yr ago on this drug..did not realize that it was the drug doing what it did...........severe pain in feet, legs,hands,fingers, and my arms......nausea off and an all the time.....lost about 50 lbs during this time...last 3 or 4 weeks started having headaches.........after i took the drug at 9 pm , within the hour the pain was always more extreme and i usually only got about 3 to 4 hrs of sleep per night. i thought growing old could not be this painfull..my dr took me off of drug aug 28th and today i am feeling somewhat better already... dr ran test for muscle damage, but, those are not back yet..
Light At The End Of The Tunnel...
posted by Brandydee on 10 Jul 2009 at 9:20 pmMy muscle pain began with Statin drugs and doctors who told me that the pain couldn't be from Lipitor and that I needed to continue taking the drug. I quit taking statins on my own when I could no longer walk up the stairs and hurt so much that most of my time was spent in bed. When the pain didn't go away after quiting the drug I was told that if the statins been the cause of my pain then the pain would have disappeared within two weeks after cessation...therefore the statins could Not be the cause of my continuing pain. Due to a lack of a concrete cause for my pain was finally diagnosed as having fibromyagia even though I didn't seem to fit many of the symptoms.
Approximately seven years after statin use the pain in my body is sometimes excruciating. I function by taking painkillers and anti-inflammatories. Even so, if feel okay today and decide to clean my house, I can count on being in so much pain by the next evening that I am unable to function properly for the next two weeks.
My body hurts so much that I find myself holding my breath as I wait for the medication to kick in.
Usually the flare up ends but lately this doesn't seem to be the case. Making a meal is enough to set me back.
I discovered a strange thing about this pain. I have a back problem that is treated with facet blocks that include steroids. Within a day or so ALL my pain disappears for several weeks.
The pain clinic doctor says that such an occurrence is interesting and doesn't really know why this should happen, nor why a low dose oxycocet would take fibromyagia pain away.
A HUGE THANK YOU to the scientists who conducted this study. It gives me hope that sometime in the near future you will find an answer to helping those of us adversely affected by statin drug side effects.
Like SylviaLynn asks...Can there actually be a Cure for this pain?
Muscle Problems From Statins
posted by SylviaLynn on 7 Jul 2009 at 11:36 amI feel 98% sure that my muscle problems are from statins; they started on statins and get worse on new kinds of statins, even ones not as likely to cause muscle problems. Doctors have thought my muscle problems were not from statins ~ because my creatine phosphokinase (CPK) wasn't elevated ~ and because they had patients whose muscle problems stopped after stopping statins (implying my persistent ones are not from statins) ~ this article shows a subgroup of patients suffers "persistent" injury.
My muscle problems do stop for a while ~ until I carry an only slightly heavy grocery plastic bag, or swim, paddling around VERY lightly, for only 15 minutes; then I'm miserable with upper~arm muscle problems for 3 days ~ and they seem to come with fatigue, although I'm not positive the fatigue is part of it. In the grocery bag might be only 3 plastic bottles with a total of 48 oz. liquid (even 32 oz. in 2 bottles might be enough ~ I won't experiment with that and be miserable another 3 days).
My thanks to the researchers who've shown there can be persistent injury after statins and even in patients who don't show elevated CPK. I wish I could describe the "miserable feeling" in my upper arms ~ it's not like muscle strain from ordinary exercise ~ my muscles aren't actually week, but "feel as though they're extremely week" ~ and there's some pain but it's more than just pain ~ "extremely tired muscles?" ~ that's why I just say "a miserable feeling in my upper arms." It does go away after 3 days ~ but carrying a slightly heavy grocery plastic bag brings it back ~ even just lifting it in & out of the car.
Can there be a cure?
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