Are statins making my hair fall out?
FOR the past eight years since I suffered a mini-stroke, I’ve been affected by awful fatigue and weakness and there have been days when I could hardly walk or lift my arms. Even more distressing is that my hair has started falling out.
Around a month ago, I read that statins can cause fatigue (I have been taking these pills for eight years), so I stopped taking them. There is a slight improvement, but how long will the statin stay in my system? My doctor is no help and cannot answer my questions. I am 77.
Elsie Williams, by email.
WHAT a terrible time you have been having — understandably you want to find the reason for your debilitating symptoms. However, I am not convinced your pills are to blame.
If your statin was involved, I would have expected you to feel better very quickly — the drug leaves your system completely after just one day. While hair loss takes slightly longer to reverse (the hair follicles can take months to switch back into action), I would have expected a much more marked improvement in your energy levels.
Statins were first discovered in the Seventies and were subject to extensive research for 20 years before they became widely available and recommended, and we now have five or six on the market.
There is good evidence to show statins reduce the risk of death in those diagnosed with cardiovascular disease — their risk of heart attack and sudden death drops by 60 per cent, their risk of stroke by 17 per cent. However, some patients do report muscle pain, cramps, and (less often) gastrointestinal or other symptoms.
In the past two or three years, there has been much talk about impairment of memory and other psychological effects. But the truth is that these symptoms can also occur among people taking a placebo dummy pill.
In both groups, the symptoms disappear when they stop taking the pills — whether the placebo or the active drug.
What this tells us is that human beings are complicated, they are not machines. Most of us in middle age and beyond (the era of life when statins are prescribed) have all sorts of aches and pains, as well as complaints with our memory, and it is easy to misattribute this to the statins.
As doctors, we are trying to weigh up the evidence, and sort out the myths from reality. Rather than focus on statins, I would be tempted to investigate whether you might have suffered a degree of depression following your mini-stroke.
ABOUT
30 per cent of patients develop a depressive illness following a stroke, and depression is often characterised by profound exhaustion, weakness, and even hair loss and dry skin.
Bearing all this in mind, here is one thing you could try. Re-start your statin for one or two weeks.
If this pill has been the cause of your symptoms, they will start immediately, and at least you will know for sure the pills are to blame. At this point, in discussion with your doctor, you could either stop them altogether or try an alternative (you say you are taking simvastatin). If the response to stopping the statin is borderline, your fatigue and weakness has another cause — depression is a likely culprit — and that really merits the attention of your GP. AFTER an operation in March for a broken hip and shoulder, I became very unwell in hospital and was barely conscious for two weeks. When I did come back to the land of the living I noticed I had bed sores on both heels.
I now have district nurses in twice a week to dress these painful sores, but they make it difficult for me to get about. How does one get these sores, and is it true they can take up to a year to heal? I am nearly 95 years young. Lydia Newnham, Chobham, Surrey. YOU have, sadly, been the victim of atrocious neglect: bedsores are the hallmark of poor nursing care. A bedsore, or pressure ulcer, is an injury to the skin and underlying s soft tissue, and is the result of a part of the body being under constant pressure, which restricts the blood supply. This can lead to the tissue becoming starved of oxygen and nutrients, and in some cases the skin and underlying tissue will die and fall away.
The initial damage would have s started when you were bedridden. Nursing staff are well aware of the need to inspect pressure areas at least twice daily — they should examine the tail bone, heels, elbows and, indeed, any bony point w where there is little padding.
You should have been turned, to re- distribute pressure, at least every four hours. The benefit of this is proven, and despite your immobility, the damage could have been avoided or at least minimised.
YOU must do all you can at this stage to allow these sores to heal. A nutritious diet, adequate in both p protein and calories is vital, and it m might be advisable for you to be seen by a dietitian: your GP should be able to arrange this.
The twice-weekly observations and dressings by the district nurse are ideal, and you must make sure there is no pressure on your heels, except when walking. A physiotherapist or an occupational therapist may be helpful for strategies for this.
Finally, I urge you to write a letter of complaint to the chief executive of the hospital where you were treated, requesting an explanation and an apology. Copy the letter to David Behan, the new chief executive of the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator of health and social care, who makes sure (we hope and expect) that standards are what they should be.
I am aware this gives you work to do — but if everyone badgered the regulator, then standards of care everywhere might improve.
WRITE TO DR SCURR
To CoNTaCT Dr Scurr with a health query, write to him at Good Health Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TT or email drmartin@dailymail.co.uk — including contact details. Dr Scurr cannot enter into personal correspondence. His replies cannot apply to individual cases and should be taken in a general context. always consult your own GP with any health worries.