GPs should think more carefully about prescribing cholesterol-busting drugs say researchers who highlighted a range of "unintended" side effects. Some doses and types of statins are linked with a greater risk of adverse effects, including liver problems and kidney failure, the UK research showed.
There are plans to prescribe statins in around one in four adults aged over 40. The UK Department of Health had predicted prescriptions for the drugs would rise by 30% a year, as GPs find more and more people eligible. But there has been much debate over side effects and the latest research set out to confirm where the problems may lie in a "real life" population.
Researchers looked at data from more than two million 30-84 year-olds from GP practices in England and Wales over a six-year period. Adverse effects identified in the study, published in the British Medical Journal, include liver problems, acute kidney failure, muscle weakness and cataracts. For kidney failure and liver dysfunction, higher doses of the drugs seemed to be associated with greater risk. Risks of side-effects were greatest in the first year of use. On the positive side, the analysis also showed no significant association between the use of statins and the risk of Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, blood clot, dementia, osteoporotic fracture, or many cancers including gastric, colon, lung, renal, breast or prostate.
For every 10,000 women treated with statins: 271 fewer cases of cardiovascular disease 8 fewer cases of esophageal cancer 23 extra patients with acute kidney failure 73 extra patients with liver dysfunction 307 extra patients with cataracts 39 extra patients with muscle weakness. Figures were similar for men, except there would be 110 extra cases of muscle weakness.
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