September 2014 ~ Wellness Happy Life

Statin side effects: Weigh the benefits and risks

Doctors often prescribe statins for people with high cholesterol to lower their total cholesterol and reduce their risk of a heart attack or stroke. Most people taking statins will take them for the rest of their lives unless they can achieve normal cholesterol levels through diet, exercise, weight loss and nutritional supplement. Do you know the side effects of statins drugs or the ugly side of statin drugs which most doctors didn't mentioned to you when they prescribed you the drug ?

What are statin side effects?

According many published articles from Mayo clinic, Dr Mercola, WebMD, FDA etc and even statin drugs websites, there are many side effects related to statin drugs :

- Muscle pain and damage

- Liver damage

- Digestive problems

- Rash or flushing

- Increased blood sugar or type 2 diabetes

- Neurological side effects

- Vision problems

- Memory loss

- and many more...

Who's at risk of developing statin side effects?

Not everyone who takes a statin will have side effects, but some people may be at a greater risk than are others. Risk factors include:

- Taking multiple medications to lower your cholesterol

- Being female

- Having a smaller body frame

- Being age 65 or older

- Having kidney or liver disease

- Having type 1 or 2 diabetes

- Drinking too much alcohol (More than two drinks a day for men age 65 and younger and more than one drink a day for women of all ages and men older than 65.

FDA Expands Advice on Statin Risks

If you’re one of the millions of people who take statins to prevent heart disease, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has important new safety information on these cholesterol-lowering medications.

FDA is advising consumers and health care professionals that:
- Routine monitoring of liver enzymes in the blood, once considered standard procedure for statin users, is no longer needed. Such monitoring has not been found to be effective in predicting or preventing the rare occurrences of serious liver injury associated with statin use
- Cognitive (brain-related) impairment, such as memory loss, forgetfulness and confusion, has been reported by some statin users
- People being treated with statins may have an increased risk of raised blood sugar levels and the development of Type 2 diabetes
- Some medications interact with lovastatin (brand names include Mevacor) and can increase the risk of muscle damage.